LuxLeaks whistleblower should be celebrated and protected, not prosecuted, says Oxfam

All charges against Antoine Deltour, the #LuxLeaks whistleblower who exposed secret deals that enabled multinational companies to avoid paying billions of dollars in tax, should be dropped, said Oxfam today. The trial of Antoine Deltour on charges of theft, violation of professional secrecy, violation of trade secrets and illegally accessing a database, is scheduled to begin on Monday 26 April.  

Max Lawson, Oxfam’s Inequality Policy Lead said:  

“Whistleblowers who expose tax dodging should be celebrated and protected, not prosecuted. It’s only through the courageous actions of individuals like Antoine Deltour that the public is alerted to tax abuse, which costs countries - including very poor ones - billions of dollars every year. This is money that could be used to pay for doctors and medicines, textbooks and teachers, but instead is goes into the already bulging bank accounts of tax dodgers.

“In the absence of greater tax transparency, whistleblowing is often the only way tax dodgers, are exposed. Governments must not leave it to whistleblowers to police the tax system. They must force companies to publish reports of their economic activities in each country they operate, so it’s clear if they are paying their fair share of tax where they do business.”

“LuxLeaks showed that governments are sometimes complicit in tax dodging. It’s time political leaders stopped pandering to big business and started working for the good of their citizens.”