(BERLIN) The whistleblower behind the release of the “Panama Papers” says he fears a response from willing Russians, a vast organization of tax evasion and fraud operating around the world. [sa] Died,” in an interview published on Saturday Der Spiegel.
Posted at 7:35 am.
The whistleblower, interviewed for the first time since the German magazine’s first revelations in 2016, says he has evidence of financial irregularities by senior Russian officials and their allies who financed the war in Ukraine.
“As Putin’s missiles target shopping malls, the front companies financing the Russian military are killing innocent civilians in Ukraine,” said John Doe, the pseudonym used by the whistleblower.
These institutions “make these horrors more possible.”
According to Mr Doe, the Russian president “Putin is more of a threat to America than Hitler, and leading companies are his best friends”.
Do you fear for your life?, asks the magazine. “Because the Russian government has revealed the fact that they want me dead, it’s a risk that I live,” said Mr. Doe replied.
According to him, the Russian state-funded channel RT aired a two-part documentary on the “Panama Papers”, “John Doe”, “who suffered head injuries from torture”.
“It’s strange and not subtle,” he said, before pointing out, “We’ve seen other people involved in the killing with Navy accounts.” He wants evidence of this in the “tragic murders of Daphne Caruana Galizia and John Kuciak,” two investigative reporters killed in Malta and Slovakia.
“The Panama Papers cover so many different transnational criminal organizations, some of which have ties to governments, that it’s hard to imagine how it would be safe to identify me,” said the whistleblower, who says he doesn’t want to come out. Anonymous.
The Panama Papers is one of several leaked financial documents revealed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The revelations led to the resignation of the Icelandic prime minister, and paved the way for the ouster of the Pakistani leader.
