Shell ‘played role in activist executions’…
Royal Dutch Shell is due in court on Wednesday this week to face charges of being complicit in the execution of Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa 14 years ago…
The Anglo-Dutch petrochemicals giant will be accused of asking Nigeria’s military dictatorship to silence Mr Saro-Wiwa and other activists campaigning against ecological damage allegedly brought about by oil extraction.
Mr Saro-Wiwa and eight other campaigners were executed by hanging in November 1995 after being found guilty of what were widely seen as trumped up murder charges.
If found liable, Shell would be forced to pay damages that amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.
“While Shell didn’t tighten the noose or pull the trigger, they played a critical supporting role for which they must be held accountable,” said Jen Nessel from the Center for Constitutional Rights, one of the organisations involved in the trial, which opens in New York on Wednesday.
“May 27th will see Ken Saro Wiwa’s prophesy fulfilled that Shell would one day be on trial for what it did to the Ogoni people.”
The plaintiffs in Wiwa v Shell, a consolidation of several long-running cases, will also argue that the company is guilty of crimes against humanity, torture and illegal detainment.
Royal Dutch Shell vigorously denies all the allegations, which are being brought by relatives of Mr Saro-Wiwa and other victims of Nigeria’s military dictatorship.
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