TI share the following statement by EU campaigning group Eurodad of which more than 60 major European NGOs are members, issued this afternoon:

Tax Justice campaigners today condemned the punishment of Antoine Deltour and Raphaël Halet — two whistleblowers who were instrumental in exposing the infamous ‘Luxleaks' scandal.

Mr Deltour was given a 12 month suspended prison sentence and a â‚¬1500 fine. Mr Halet was given a 9 month suspended prison sentence and a â‚¬1000 fine. French journalist Edouard Perrin was acquitted.

All three men helped expose the secret sweetheart deals signed by the Luxembourg government that allowed numerous multinational corporations to reduce their tax bills dramatically, in some cases to less than 1%.

Tove Ryding, Tax justice Coordinator at the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) said: “The sentences imposed on these men are a complete disgrace and an indictment of the system that has condemned them. They acted in the public interest and deserve thanks and protection from prosecution. They revealed the secret tax deals that allowed huge corporations to pay next to nothing to the public purse. These kind of deals mean both developed countries, and the poorest nations in the world, lose billions every year.

“This information should not have been secret in the first place. There is no reason why citizens should not be allowed to know where multinational corporations do their business and where they pay their taxes.”

More than 200,000 people have shown their support for Antoine Deltour through this online petition alone: https://www.change.org/p/support-antoine-deltour-luxleaks?lang=en-GB

Ryding said: “We are calling for protection for all whistleblowers so that what happened to these three men today can never happen again. We also believe it is about time for the politicians to make multinational corporations publish the numbers showing where they make their profits and where they pay their taxes.”