Exactly a month after the biggest data leak in history, the whistleblower behind the Panama Papers leak broke his/her silence on Friday, reported the Guardian citing Süddeutsche Zeitung. A source has come to explain in detail how the injustices of offshore tax havens prompted him/her and others for an expose.
In what appears as a manifesto of its agenda, an 1,800-word write up has been put out by the source, which had earlier used the name John Doe and sent the message: "Interested in secret data?" to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Denying speculations of being a spy, the source has also singled out the Conservatives in Britain, calling them "shameless about concealing their own practices involving offshore companies."
"For the record, I do not work for any government or intelligence agency, directly or as a contractor, and I never have. My viewpoint is entirely my own," the source said.
"Shell companies are often associated with the crime of tax evasion. But the Panama Papers show beyond a shadow of a doubt that although shell companies are not illegal, by definition they are used to carry out a wide array of serious crimes," the source wrote. "Income inequality is one of the defining issues of our time."
"The prevailing media narrative thus far has focused on the scandal of what is allowed and legal in this system. What is allowed is indeed scandalous and must be changed," he/she added.
The leak of 11.5 million documents from the Panama based law firm Mossack Fonseca had unleashed a "new, encouraging global debate," the source noted.
The "scale of injustices" apparent in the Panama Papers, the source said, had helped it/them act on the issue. "...would be willing to cooperate with law enforcements to the extent that I am able."
Guardian said it was intriguing that the source complained that "several major media outlets," which it originally approached, had "chose not to cover them." Unclear which media organisations the source was talking about, the report noted even Wikileaks "didn't answer its tip line repeatedly." It complained that the "media has failed."
The anonymous informant also condemned the legal profession, which has consistently helped set up tens of thousands of Mossack Fonseca-run shell companies.
"Mossack Fonseca did not work in a vacuum. Despite repeated fines and documented regulatory violations, it found allies and clients at major law firms in virtually every nation," the manifesto claimed.
It was also critical of the governments especially for treating their whistleblowers in a harsh manner. Edward Snowden it cited as an example of being charged with espionage by the U.S. for breaking the news that U.S. and UK was snooping on its citizens' communications. "For his revelations about the NSA, he [Snowden] deserves a hero's welcome and a substantial prize, not banishment," the source said.
The source seemed to be disappointed with the official reactions to the leak across countries. New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key was "curiously quiet" about Cook Islands role in the financial fraud, while politicians had consistently failed to address tax evasion in the U.S. as they relied on the super-rich for campaign funding, it added.
Signing off in an optimistic tone, the whistleblower noted that in this day and age of "inexpensive, limitless digital storage" connected to the internet that transcends national boundaries "the next revolution will be digitised".
"Or perhaps it has already begun," it added.
