Dutch prosecutors fired the opening salvo on May 31 in a notorious case involving a Swiss-based oil trader which dumped hazardous waste in Ivory Coast, the British Morning Star said on June 1. The dumping was allegedly to save itself the paltry sum of €400,000 (about A$576,000).
The article said prosecutor Luuk Boogert accused oil trader Trafigura AG and local authorities of putting “self-interest above people’s health and environment” at the criminal trial in Amsterdam. The ship had docked at Amsterdam en-route to Ivory Coast.
Trafigura is charged with intentionally exporting hazardous waste, concealing the nature of the waste, and fraud.
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Last year, top United Nations expert on toxic waste Okechukwu Ibeanu said there was a clear “direct and indirect connection” between the arrival of the waste and 100,000 cases of illness and 16 deaths in Ivory Coast, the Morning Star reported.