This Friday, 18 December, the Ivorian Court of Appeal will decide the fate of the compensation owed to thousands of Ivorians following their alleged exposure to toxic waste from the Probo Koala in 2006.
Almost 30,000 Ivorian Claimants were due to receive compensation from oil trader Trafigura after a landmark settlement was reached with the company in September. The compensation was paid into a bank account in Abidjan in September, but was frozen before it could be distributed to the claimants, following an application by an organisation calling itself the National Coordination of Toxic Waste Victims, Cote d’Ivoire (CNVDT-CI).
The organisation’s President, Mr Claude Gohourou, claims that CNVDT-CI has a mandate from all claimants to receive and distribute the compensation on their behalf, and that the entire fund should therefore be transferred to a bank account in CNVDT-CI’s name.
The claim is flatly denied by the claimants’ lawyers, Leigh Day & Co, who today commenced criminal proceedings against Mr Gohourou for fraud. They accuse him of having forged key legal documents and of being a front for a senior but shadowy figure within Ivorian society who is intent on expropriating the Claimants’ money.
In a judgment on 7 November, the Tribunal of First Instance initially rejected Mr Gohourou’s claims to the compensation fund, but he has now taken his argument to the Court of Appeal. Leigh Day has also appealed to have the fund unfrozen so they can distribute the compensation to their clients. Both matters are listed for hearing on 18 December.
Martyn Day, the senior partner for Leigh Day & Co, said today: ‘We are deeply concerned by Mr Gohourou’s audacious attempts to expropriate our clients’ compensation, which have even extended to placing forged documents before the Court. If the compensation were transferred to CNVDT-CI, I have no doubt that it would go straight into the pockets of Mr Gohourou and his associates. Such an outcome would be devastating for our clients, many of whom are relying on this money for food or medical bills’.
His concerns have been echoed by organisations such as Amnesty International and the Special Representatative of the UN Secretary-General on Business and Human Rights, Professor John Ruggie. Professor Ruggie commented today: "I have every expectation that the Ivorian judicial system will protect the best interests of the victims, in keeping with the state duty to protect. This was a hard-won settlement and the victims are entitled to compensation."
For further information please contact
Martyn Day on 020 7650 1234,
Melanie Raphael, assistant to Martyn Day on 020 7650 1234, or
Pauline Khan, legal officer, on 020 7650 1298.
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