Croatia Will Extradite British Whistleblower Who Exposed Bribery to Monaco
A British whistleblower who revealed bribery at an oil company he worked for in Monaco will be extradited there to face corruption charges after Croatia – where he had been detained after going there on a vacation – agreed to send him.
Jonathan Taylor had been kept in Croatia for 10 months as he battled attempts to send him to Monaco where authorities want to question him about his work for a Dutch firm SBM Offshore.
Croatia's Supreme Court upheld the extradition request although it had ruled he had whistleblower status and the Justice Ministry, despite being urged by his supporters, didn't block it.
Taylor was arrested on an Interpol Red License, which has since been withdrawn and as he said sending him to Monaco goes against a European Union whistleblowing directive which must be implemented by December and bars retaliation against those who reveal wrongdoing.
He described the ruling as "illegal and illogical” and had urged the Croatian Ministry of Justice to "ensure the EU directives on the protection of whistleblowers are adhered to and I am free to return home,” the BBC said.
In 2012, Taylor provided evidence about bribes being offered in return for lucrative contracts at SBM and said it led to him instead being charged with extortion for brokering negotiations between lawyers in Monaco that he said was “for using counsel and not an attempt to extort".
He said the matter was later withdrawn by SBM Offshore but he was arrested in July 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic because Monaco authorities sought his extradition about claims he demanded money to keep quiet, which he denied.
The Whistleblower International Network (WIN,) in a letter signed by 35 supporting groups – including Blueprint for Free Speech – urged Croatia not to extradite him.
“There are a lot of elements in Jonathan Taylor’s case that warrant examination because they have wider implications for cross-border whistleblower protections,” WIN Executive Director Anna Myers told Blueprint.
“Retaliation against whistleblowers can continue long after the original disclosure and investigations of the corruption has passed … it is important for civil society to argue these points as loudly as possible if we want to achieve change, even if ultimately it is slower in coming that we would want,” she added.
In the letter, WIN and the Jonathan Taylor Support Committee said the extradition request "amounts to a clear act of retaliation for his having disclosed the corrupt practices of a major offshore oil firm,” but Croatia rejected the argument.
She said in the letter: "Mr. Taylor is not charged with anything as there are no criminal proceedings, nor is there any execution of a judgement for which he is wanted - which are the only two valid legal bases for seeking extradition."
The letter also noted that Taylor's revelations led to criminal investigations in the United Kingdom, United States, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Brazil – but not Monaco - and led to the company paying $800 million in fines and three people jailed in the scandal, including the former CEO of SBM.
Taylor told the BBC authorities in Monaco have said they want him to return for questioning to determine whether or not to charge him,” after SBM lodged a criminal complaint, but he had always agreed to answer questions “either remotely or in person.”
While Croatia has yet to adopt the EU Whistleblower Directive and the United Kingdom is no longer a member of the bloc, Myers told Blueprint that it “gives good steers as to how a case like Jonathan Taylor’s should be handled but is not specifically geared to cross-border whistleblowing,” and offer protection.
She said that the EU directive exists “is only because of the civil society organizations across Europe coming together to fight for it. It is not perfect but the standards it sets are high and it gives us a very real way to monitor EU Member States and to hold them to account,” and protect whistleblowers.