Sierra Leone court lifts Octea asset freeze after complaint thrown out
The High Court of Sierra Leone in Freetown has dismissed one of several legal complaints against Octea, a subsidiary of Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz's BSG Resources (BSGR), on jurisdictional grounds, a court ruling shows.
A lawsuit against Octea subsidiary Koidu Limited and related
companies was filed in February by 15 individuals who say that their property,
livelihoods or health suffered because of operations at a diamond mine in
eastern Sierra Leone, according to the complaint.
The High Court put a temporary freeze on the defendants'
assets in and around the mining concession in August after a lawyer for the
plaintiffs argued there was a "clear and present risk" that they
could expatriate funds in order to avoid having to pay out if the court rules
against them. The court did not state its reasoning in the Aug. 20 interim
order.
That freeze is now lifted since the case was dismissed, presiding
Justice Augustine Musa told Reuters.
Musa's Wednesday ruling said that the High Court lacked the
jurisdiction to hear the case because the court in Kono, where the complaint
was made, was not the proper forum to issue a writ of summons.
Octea welcomed the ruling.
"Octea has consistently stated that the complaint was
baseless and without merit. This has been confirmed by the ruling (of the
court) in Sierra Leone ... which ruled emphatically in favour of Octea,"
it said in a statement.
Benedict Jalloh, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he was
disappointed.
"We are considering issuing the writ again in Kenema,
Bo, Makeni or Freetown," he told Reuters.
Octea still faces legal challenges in Sierra Leone.
A similar case against Octea and related companies was filed
by more than 70 plaintiffs in April last year, seeking damages of an
unspecified amount.
That case and nine individual complaints are still pending,
Jalloh told Reuters.
Representatives of BSGR and Octea told Reuters that eight of
the 12 defendants listed in all the complaints don't exist.
"If they can give us that evidence, that would be
good," Jalloh said. "I am surprised they are just raising this now.
They never raised this in their objections."
Representatives of BSGR and Octea also said they have no
records for a significant number of the plaintiffs, saying it appeared as if
many of them did not exist. Other plaintiffs have been compensated and
allocated new houses in a relocation settlement, they said.
"Our clients are alive. We have interviewed them,"
Jalloh said, describing claims to the contrary as "bogus and absurd",
although he said one of the original plaintiffs had passed away since last
year.
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