The Luxembourg Court of Cassation has decided to overturn the conviction of former PwC whistleblower Antoine Deltour who was meant to serve a suspended six month sentence and fined €1,500 (USA $1,790) on 15 March 2017 for leaking files related to tax evasion schemes to French journalist Edouard Perrin, who first broke the LuxLeaks story.
However, the court ruled that Deltour should have been recognised as a whistleblower, as per the European Court of Human Rights law. The case is being referred back to the Court of Appeal of Luxembourg.
Deltour’s support committee stated: “We have constantly denounced the obvious inconsistencies of the previous Luxembourg court’s decisions, and we are therefore very pleased to welcome this undeniable victory. We are confident of a favourable final outcome in Luxembourg.”
Nonetheless, the court upheld the conviction and €1000 fine against his peer Raphaël Halet as he did not meet whistleblower criteria. Deltour’s support committee lamented that Halet is still not recognised as a genuine whistleblower.
