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‘Luxleaks’ trial verdict on June 29: Luxembourg judge

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A Luxembourg judge will deliver the verdict in the trial of two whistleblowers and a journalist in the "LuxLeaks" tax scandal on June 29, he said Wednesday.

Judge Marc Thill made the announcement a day after prosecutors demanded jail terms of 18 months each for former PricewaterhouseCoopers employees Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet, and a fine for reporter Edouard Perrin.

They face charges over thousands of leaked documents that revealed the huge tax breaks that tiny EU nation offers international firms including Apple, IKEA and Pepsi.

The two whistleblowers face up to 10 years behind bars for the charges which include stealing documents, revealing business secrets and violation of professional secrets.

Luxembourg tax avoidance scandal
Luxembourg tax avoidance scandal
, Graphics/AFP

The defendants deny the charges, saying they were exposing irregular tax practices.

Rights groups have said the three are being unfairly prosecuted.

The documents were originally used for a 2012 report on French public television by Perrin.

But they only really exploded internationally in 2014 with the huge "LuxLeaks" dump of all 30,000 pages into the public domain.

The files showed how Luxembourg granted "sweetheart" deals that saved firms billions of dollars in taxes at a time when Jean-Claude Juncker, now head of the European Commission, was prime minister.

The LuxLeaks scandal exposed the huge tax-breaks Luxembourg offers global firms such as Apple  IKEA...
The LuxLeaks scandal exposed the huge tax-breaks Luxembourg offers global firms such as Apple, IKEA and Pepsi
Emmanuel Dunand, AFP/File

Luxembourg insists the tax arrangement were both completely legal and standard practice in many other countries.

A Luxembourg judge will deliver the verdict in the trial of two whistleblowers and a journalist in the “LuxLeaks” tax scandal on June 29, he said Wednesday.

Judge Marc Thill made the announcement a day after prosecutors demanded jail terms of 18 months each for former PricewaterhouseCoopers employees Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet, and a fine for reporter Edouard Perrin.

They face charges over thousands of leaked documents that revealed the huge tax breaks that tiny EU nation offers international firms including Apple, IKEA and Pepsi.

The two whistleblowers face up to 10 years behind bars for the charges which include stealing documents, revealing business secrets and violation of professional secrets.

Luxembourg tax avoidance scandal

Luxembourg tax avoidance scandal
, Graphics/AFP

The defendants deny the charges, saying they were exposing irregular tax practices.

Rights groups have said the three are being unfairly prosecuted.

The documents were originally used for a 2012 report on French public television by Perrin.

But they only really exploded internationally in 2014 with the huge “LuxLeaks” dump of all 30,000 pages into the public domain.

The files showed how Luxembourg granted “sweetheart” deals that saved firms billions of dollars in taxes at a time when Jean-Claude Juncker, now head of the European Commission, was prime minister.

The LuxLeaks scandal exposed the huge tax-breaks Luxembourg offers global firms such as Apple  IKEA...

The LuxLeaks scandal exposed the huge tax-breaks Luxembourg offers global firms such as Apple, IKEA and Pepsi
Emmanuel Dunand, AFP/File

Luxembourg insists the tax arrangement were both completely legal and standard practice in many other countries.

AFP
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