Shell ordered to pay out
Wednesday 30 January 2013
Printable
EmailA Dutch court ruled today that a subsidiary of oil giant Shell was legally responsible for a pipeline leak that damaged Nigerian farmland.
The court threw out four of the five charges brought by Friends of the Earth and Nigerian farmers against Shell, finding that leaking pipelines were caused by saboteurs.
But in one case it said the company had made sabotage too easy and ordered compensation.
Both sides hailed the result as a victory.
Shell said it was "clear" that it had "been proven right."
But environmentalists and human rights activists said the ruling opened the way for other victims of multinational corporations to find justice. Farmer Eric Barizaadooh, whose own case was rejected, said: "For my colleagues who succeeded that is victory. I believe this is a revolutionary case."
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