Bring Freedom Fighter Toine Manders to LIWC 2021

Bring freedom fighter Toine Manders to Liberty International World Conference!

 

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to live as a libertarian in a very collectivist state like the Netherlands? Gems are created by pressure and time. The various videos that went viral of Toine Manders’ interrogation by the Dutch parliament are the result of just that. Several decades of libertarian activism in a collectivist society. Pressure and time that created the wonderful statements Toine made in the lion’s den.

 

We need your support to pay for Toine Manders’ expenses to speak at the Liberty International World Conference in Medellin, Colombia, Augstust 10-16, 2021. When we invited him to speak, he replied as follows: “I would very much like to accept your invitation to speak, but as you may have heard, my ongoing battle with the government has led to my personal bankruptcy, which has still not been lifted. This means I have to ask a judge for permission to travel, and also show that my expenses are paid for.”

 

If you make a gift of 100 euros or more, as a token of his gratitude, Toine will offer you a one hour meeting for free, in person, via phone or a video call.

 

No donation is too small, but if you are not in a position to make a gift, then please share this message as widely as possible and make a difference that way!

 

About Toine Manders and his battle with the government

 

Toine Manders, a Dutch tax lawyer, entrepreneur and anti-politician, dedicated the early part of his career to the struggle against the form of forced labour called conscription by joining HJC, the firm that helped 6000 young men avoid being drafted into military service.

 

When the draft was suspended, HJC decided to focus on providing legal services to entrepreneurs. After Toine took over as manager of HJC, HJC specialized in the field of tax planning for small business owners and opened an office in Cyprus, so that its clients could benefit from Cyprus’ beneficial tax climate. HJC Group was involved in the formation of about 7000 corporate entities. HJC made the benefits the tax system offers to large corporations available to small business owners, and its structures often cut the tax bill of small business owners in half. HJC made sure all solutions were within the law, and to this day the taxman has never successfully challenged any of HJC’s structures.

 

One of the major breakthroughs in Toine’s work was the Inspire Art decision, in which the European Court of Justice ruled that every entrepreneur in the EU has the freedom to form a company in any member state, and therefore may choose the member state with the most business friendly company law, even if all activities are in his home country. As a result, he broke the monopoly EU member states claimed on forming corporations, and many EU member states were forced to make their company law friendlier for small business owners.

 

For over two decades, Toine was the leader and chairman of the Libertarian Party of The Netherlands (LPNL). He was the top candidate on the list of LPNL for the Dutch national elections in 1994 and 2012. He always took a principled stance for the individual and against state (abuse of) power.

 

Toine was interviewed by hundreds of national TV and radio stations, newspapers, magazines and journals. He has been invited to (nationally broadcasted) debates with professors, members of parliament, and other politicians. He spoke at hundreds of seminars for entrepreneurs and their advisors.

 

In January 2014 Toine was arrested and held in pre-trial detention for three and a half months. The main charge was membership of a criminal organization, whose alleged purpose was to help clients, whose alleged purpose was to evade tax. To this day, no proof has been offered, because none exists. The tax investigators even seized all records of all (about 10000) clients and prospects, but to this day, no evidence was offered even one of them has ever been convicted or even prosecuted for tax evasion. Many believe seizing these records was a major, if not the major reason the government did what it did. HJC was closed. Toine’s pre-trial detention was suspended in May 2014 under a number of conditions. One condition was that he would not be allowed to work in the financial sector. Another condition was that he was not allowed to be in contact with potential witnesses. To avoid the risk of further pre-trial detention, he had to err on the safe side and avoid all contact with all of his business contacts. These restrictions have been in place for over three years, leading to his personal bankruptcy.

 

The Netherlands signed two international human rights treaties that protect the right to a speedy trial (which is interpreted to mean under two years), but his trial did not start until October 2018, almost 5 years after his arrest. After a five-day trial, and after over 35 witnesses were interrogated, and after the judges studied the prosecutor’s file of over 15000 pages, in November 2018 the judges’ verdict came:

 

Count 1. Membership of a criminal organization whose alleged purpose was to help clients, whose alleged purpose was to evade tax: Not guilty.

Count 2. Filing incorrect VAT returns: Not guilty.

Count 3. Providing trust services without a license: Not guilty.

Count 4. Engaging in activities geared towards the provision of trust services to the Netherlands by a trust company in a country that is not on Our Minister’s list of approved countries and that does not have a trust license issued by the Dutch Central Bank: Guilty. Sentence: 180 hours of community service.

 

In the Netherlands, prosecutors can appeal an acquittal twice. They decided to appeal his acquittal of counts 2 and 3, but not his acquittal of count 1, which was by far the most serious accusation, without which the courts would not have allowed the extreme coercive measures including pre-trial detention. Count 4 is a minor accusation, for which pre-trial detention is never allowed under any circumstances. Toine decided to appeal his conviction for count 4. No trial date has been set so far by the appeals court, so the two-year maximum has been violated again.

 

On 16 June 2017, Manders was interrogated by the Dutch Parliamentary Questioning Committee Tax Schemes. His clear and well-represented counter arguments against the system of taxation have been a hit on social media. Several videos with subtitles in English, Portuguese, Spanish and other languages have gone viral and have been watched millions of times.

 

The videos that went viral are not the best publicity for the Dutch legal system. The interrogation took place in the midst of preparations for his criminal trial by hearing 45 witnesses for the defense. He had no right not to appear. He had no right to remain silent. He had no right to refuse to answer questions in order to avoid incriminating himself. He was interrogated under oath. There is a huge overlap between the content of his trial and content of this interrogation under oath, and his testimony was highly relevant to the criminal case. His testimony cannot be formally used as evidence in a criminal case, but the tax investigators could use his testimony to find independent evidence against him. His lawyer said this was the first time in Dutch parliamentary history something like this has happened. Several questions the committee asked were relevant to his court case. So to put the pressure in perspective: Toine had to speak the truth, even if it meant incriminating himself. Now that is the ugly face of collectivism.

 

For over three years, Toine lost the ability to support his family, because he was not allowed to work in the financial sector or be in contact with his business contacts, was declared bankrupt as a result of the taxman’s actions, lost his business, lost his reputation, lost his suburban house and now is forced to live with his family of five in a public housing project. He is now allowed to work in the financial sector again, and has resumed his work as a tax lawyer, but his personal bankruptcy has still not been lifted. This means he must ask a judge for permission to travel, and also show that his expenses are paid for.