| Hi there, This is our first newsletter of 2018 and we start the year with some good news. Ruling that his status as whistleblower could not be questioned, yesterday Luxembourg’s highest court quashed the conviction against Antoine Deltour in the LuxLeaks case. We have followed LuxLeaks whistleblowers Antoine Deltour and Raphaël Halet since 2014 when they blew the whistle on aggressive tax avoidance schemes by corporations in Luxembourg. The revelations sparked international outrage and reform efforts from governments and global institutions alike. But Deltour and Halet faced criminal prosecution, fines and the threat of imprisonment. While the court’s recognition of Deltour’s role as a whistleblower is a positive step, the case must now be referred back to the Court of Appeal. Meanwhile, Halet’s conviction was upheld - the court did not recognise his status as a whistleblower and he now intends to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights. For both men their long legal battle is still not over but it is a battle that should never have begun. Time and time again, we see evidence that whistleblowers provide a vital public service. In Ireland, police whistleblowers Maurice McCabe and John Wilson revealed serious wrongdoing in the way traffic laws were being enforced which had lead to seven fatal road accidents and cost the taxpayer €1.5 million a year. In Italy, Andrea Franzoso’s revelations showed how the head of a transport company had embezzled €350,000 of public money. In Slovakia, Zuzana Hlávková exposed corruption at the heart of the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They all faced retaliation for their actions. This is why we are advocating for comprehensive whistleblower-protection laws in all EU countries. We must ensure that whistleblowers like Deltour, Halet and countless others are protected, not prosecuted. | 