War crimes investigation against Lundin delayed
Lundin Oil drilled for oil in the notorious Block 5A, which is now located in South Sudan. NGOs claim that Lundin Oil and other oil companies participated in war crimes in its search for oil in Block 5A. The organization accuses the oil company to be indirectly responsible for more than 10,000 deaths by hiring warlords.
The prosecutor Magnus Elving has led the investigation of suspected crimes under international law since in 2010. According to Expressen, the investigators were in Sudan to conduct hearings in early 2013. But because of the bloody conflict in the area, it may now take time before the next visit.
"One can state that the situation in South Sudan is not good. It may take longer than expected. We do not know how it will turn out," said the prosecutor.
"We hope for several reasons that the situation calms down," he continues.
The investigation has not stalled, quite the contrary. The prosecutor has five investigators full time at his disposal. It's a big improvement over the first two years when only two investigators were working on the investigation. The interrogations have continued outside South Sudan.
"There are many people outside South Sudan who know what did or did not happen," says Magnus Elving.
The investigation began after the umbrella organization "European Coalition on Oil in Sudan" published a critical report "Unpaid Debt - the Legacy of Lundin, Petronas and OMV in Sudan Block 5A, 1997 - 2003."
Original Swedish article:
http://www.di.se/artiklar/2014/1/9/krigsbrottsutredning-mot-lundin-fordrojs/
- Database Search
- Unpaid Debt A comprehensive overview of the role of the Lundin Consortium in the oil war. ECOS calls upon the Swedish, Austrian and Malaysian governments to investigate whether, as a matter of international law, Lundin, OMV and Petronas 'were complicit in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity by others during the period 1997-2003.’ In response, the Swedish Public Prosecutor for International crimes opened a criminal investigation into ‘links between Sweden and the reported crimes’.
- In Depth For more specific information about the Lundin court case please visit the Unpaid Debt dossier.
