Newsletter #1
 

We support Antoine Deltour, the whistleblower of the Luxleaks revelations!

In this first newsletter from the Support Committee, you will find several news pieces from the last few months about Antoine Deltour, the Luxleaks scandal, and the support for the whistleblowers. Happy reading!

The judicial situation

  • Antoine Deltour was charged on December 12th 2014, after his former employer PwC filed a complaint against him. He remains free and now works in France, but he lives under the threat of a heavy sentence (a five-year prison term and a €1,250,000€ fine)

  • On March 6th, François Hollande was interrogated by the press about the legal fate of Antoine Deltour during his official visit to Luxembourg.

  • French journalist Edouard Perrin was charged on April 23rd, provoking numerous indignant reactions. He had participated in the Luxleaks revelations through the cash Investigation reports (France 2) [Wikipedia]. Judicially, his accusation has no direct connection to the accusations made against Antoine. Another presumed source, a salaried employee of PWC, was also charged on January 23rd.

  • The inquiry was brought to a close on May 8th 2015. The date of the trial still remains unknown.

The Support Committee

The association "Comité de soutien à Antoine Deltour" –registered under french law 1901– was created on February 28th [Vosges Matin, more information on support-antoine.org].

The consequences of Luxleaks

TAXE Special Committee

Following the Luxleaks revelations, the European Parliament voted on Februray 12th for the setting up of a special committee. It has less powers at its disposal than the committee of inquiry desired by a quarter of MEPs, which is, in theory, sufficient support for its setting up. The TAXE comittee heard Antoine Deltour on June 1st.

Tax Transparency Package

On March 18th, the European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici presented a group of measures which include the automatic exchange of tax rulings (the fiscal agreements copied by Antoine) [Press release]. This measure alone demonstrates how relevant Antoine’s initiative has been (‘never has a scandal proved more useful’, according to Les Echos). But these propositions, deemed insufficient, might be followed by other measures.

The whistleblowers and their protection

  • On Februray 5th, lawyer William Bourdon and French MP Yann Galut launched a call for the creation of an outline law and for reinforcement of existing measures.

  • On March 3rd, Antoine participated in a meeting in support of whistleblowers in Paris, organized by several associations.

  • On April 2nd, , Antoine participated in a symposium organized by Transparency International and the Foundation Sciences Citoyennes to create a place of reception and support for whistleblowers.

  • On April 28th, Members of the European Parliament debated the protective measures for whistleblowers and journalists in a plenary session, following the charging of Edouard Perrin [watch the video]

  • The proposed European directive on trade secrets, debated at present, makes a heavy threat to future whistleblowers. Sign the grand call!

They support Antoine…

Eva Joly
MEP

Edward Snowden
Whistleblower

Thomas Piketty
Economist

Denis Robert
Journalist & writer

Stéphanie Gibaud
Whistleblower

and many more public supporters!

Antoine needs you!

Antoine speaking

More than 30,000 of you have already signed the petition. You have also been numerous in addressing a message to François Hollande during his official visit to Luxembourg.
To keep supporting Antoine, you can:

  • Make a donation to finance Antoine’s defense, via the secured payment platform HelloAsso

  • Join the Support Committee (5€ minimum fee).

  • Follow us and share information about supporting Antoine on the Facebook page Support Antoine and the twitter handle @support_antoine

  • Take any initiative to let people know about Antoine’s situation: through the local press, bulletins from associations or activists, speeches during debates or by organizing events… Feel free to contact the Support Committee to let them know about the initiatives or to prepare the actions.

  • Urge your close relations and your social network to keep up with Antoine’s issue and to sign the petition via the support-antoine.org website

Calendar of events

Several initiatives and debates have already been organized, notably during film screenings of L’enquête,The Price We Pay and Citizenfour. The next meetings are as follows:

June 20th in Bruxelles

Conference on fiscal justice organized by the Collectif Roosevelt Belgique

June 26th in Paris

Symposium of the Platform Judicial and Tax Havens, at the French National Assembly.

You're receiving this newsletter because you expressed your support to Antoine or you subscribed on our web site. Unsubscribe me

Photo credits: "Association" © Comité de Soutien à Antoine Deltour 2015, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 – "European flags" © TPCOM 2009, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 – "No Tax Havens" © European Union 2014 - European Parliament, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 – "Eva Joly" © Eva Joly 2014 – "Edward Snowden" © Laura Poitras / Praxis Film, CC BY 3.0 –  "Thomas Piketty" © Thomas Piketty 2015 – "Denis Robert" © François Besch 2011, CC BY-SA 3.0 –  "Stéphanie Gibaud" © Antoine Kowalski 2014 –  "Antoine Deltour" © Comité de Soutien à Antoine Deltour 2015, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0