Setback for plaintiff in Lundin trial

Crime victims in the Lundin Oil case have requested damages of SEK 110 million. Now the court rules that they cannot have their claims tried in the ongoing trial.

– It becomes practically impossible for them to get justice, says Ebony Wade at Civil Rights Defenders.

Sweden’s biggest trial of all time has been going on since September in the Stockholm District Court. There are Ian Lundin and Alex Schneiter, former representatives of Lundin Oil, now Orrön Energy, accused of aiding and abetting serious war crimes in Sudan in the years 1999–2003.

According to the indictment, the two company leaders knew that the country’s military, supported by regime-loyal militias, murdered and displaced people in order to create conditions for the company’s oil exploration in southern Sudan, now South Sudan.

In the case, there are 32 plaintiffs, civilian victims of the military’s abuse, who submitted claims for a total of SEK 110 million in damages. But recently the Stockholm district court decided that they can no longer have their claims tried within the framework of the trial.

Came in too late

The reason, according to the court, is that the claims, which were filed three weeks before the start of the trial, are vaguely worded and came in too late – even though the plaintiff’s attorneys said they would be completed by the end of 2022. In five cases, there is a lack of authorization from the plaintiffs, which is why the court in the the cases do not consider themselves able to handle the claims.

“With regard to what has now been said, it must be considered that it is the plaintiffs themselves – through the plaintiff’s assistants – who have caused the situation that has arisen,” the court writes in the decision.

The notice means that the issue of damages is separated from the criminal case and must be tried as separate civil cases.

“Setback for crime victims”

– This makes it much more difficult and in practice almost impossible for them to get redress and have their case tried in court, says Ebony Wade, lawyer at the human rights organization Civil Rights Defenders.

– From a human rights perspective, this is a major setback for crime victims.

The fact that the claims for damages are to be tried as separate litigation means that the plaintiffs – displaced Sudanese villagers – if they lose, are forced to pay Lundin’s and Schneiter’s legal costs.

Since they are not Swedish citizens, they are also obliged to provide security in advance for the legal costs in the district and appeals courts, estimated by Lundintopparna’s defense at SEK 500,000 per litigation, in order to have their case tried at all.

– One can ask the question whether it is reasonable that a plaintiff, who is the one exposed to crime, should bear such costs. It takes a lot of resources and these plaintiffs probably don’t have those resources. Therefore, it becomes practically impossible to get justice, says Ebony Wade.

TT is looking for plaintiffs’ assistants Thomas Bodström and Anders Sjögren.

Ian Lundin and Alex Schneiter deny wrongdoing.

FACT Longest trial in Sweden

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