The UK lawyer arrested on an Interpol warrant at the behest of the Monaco authorities has spoken of his ordeal while in jail in Dubrovnik, where he arrived last week with his family for a one-week holiday.
Jonathan Taylor (51) was held for five days before obtaining release on bail on Tuesday.
“As that cell door was closed I was suddenly unfreed,” he said. “I have never experienced that before and never expected to experience it. Quite the reverse.”
Mr Taylor had been employed by SBM Offshore, Monaco’s largest private sector employer, for several years until 2012, when he became a whistleblower and helped to expose multi-million dollar international bribery schemes that led to SBM Offshore having to pay out $500 million to settle court actions.
When Mr Taylor sought a payout from SBM Offshore for loss of earnings he was accused of attempted extortion. The case against him was thrown out after SBM Offshore offered no evidence.
His fellow inmates in Dubrovnik were an alleged drug smuggler, a man suspected of assaulting his father and a man who had allegedly threatened to kill his father in law. It is understood that conversation was limited in the small cell.
A spokesman for SBM Offshore has told Monaco Daily News that the company has not pursued legal action against Mr Taylor for several years.
PHOTO: Jonathan Taylor with wife Cindy
