Antoine Deltour speaks as he leaves the Luxembourg court of appeal | Aurore Belot/AFP via Getty Images

Court overturns verdict against LuxLeaks whistleblower

Antoine Deltour had been convicted over his role in exposing a major tax breaks scandal.

Luxembourg's highest court on Thursday overturned a verdict against a whistleblower who leaked documents that exposed huge tax breaks for major international companies in the so-called LuxLeaks scandal.

Antoine Deltour had been convicted and given a six-month suspended jail sentence for his role in the 2014 leaks that revealed tax breaks offered by the Luxembourg government to firms like Apple, Ikea and Pepsi at a time when now-European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was serving as the country's prime minister.

Luxembourg's Court of Cassation rejected the prior ruling, stating that Deltour should have been recognized as a whistleblower, which would have given him additional legal protection. The court also said Deltour should now be given a fresh trial.

However, the court rejected the appeal of a second man convicted over the leaks, Raphaël Halet, arguing he did not meet the whistleblower criteria, according to the BBC.