[ad_1]
MILAN (Reuters) – Nigeria is the only civilian party admitted this morning by the judges of the seventh criminal section of the Milan Court, before which the lawsuit of the alleged bribes Eni and Shell is held for the Field African Peroiferal Opt 245.
Eni Building in San Donato Milanese REUTERS / Stefano Rellandini / File Photo
The jury has indeed excluded all other aspiring civil parties, including some NGOs such as Global Witness, Assoconsum, Heda, King Common and Corner House.
Eni and Shell, who are already charged as legal persons under Law 231, may be trained at the next hearing on September 18 to oppose the Court's summons at the request of the Court. Lucio Lucia Lawyer, Representative of the Federal Government Nigeria.
THE MAIN PROCESS AND THAT OF ABBREVIATO
In the process, in addition to Eni and Shell, 13 other people are accused, including CEO Claudio Descalzi (in his quality, at the time facts, as general manager of the Exploration and Production division), former CEO Paolo Scaroni and the former president of the Shell Foundation and former executive director for Shell's exploration and production , Malcolm Brinded.
The main indictment is international corruption. The prosecution, backed by the PA coordinated by deputy prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale, is issuing bribes payments for $ 1.092 billion out of $ 1.3 billion paid in 2011 by Eni and Shell on a Nigerian government account for the purchase of the license for the exploration of oilfield Opl-245 in Nigeria. The period of the disputed facts ranges from autumn 2009 to May 2, 2014.
All accused have always dismissed the charges, pointing out that the purchase price was paid into an official account of the Lagos government , and that the subsequent transfer Much of the money on other accounts, especially that of the Malabu company (which the accusation indicates belong to the former oil minister Dan Etete , among the defendants), was outside the sphere of influence of the acquiring companies. At the time of the indictment, Eni issued a note in which the Board of Directors reaffirmed the utmost confidence in the accuracy of the company and its CEO and their "Absence of corruption even on the basis of independent controls". On the same occasion, Shell also expressed confidence that "the judges will verify the absence of the charges".
On the same Nigerian case, in a separate proceeding with the abbreviated rite (that is, directly in a preliminary hearing, in camera, rather than in a public trial of an ordinary rite) , which authorizes the reduction of one-third of the maximum enacted sanction, the prosecutor has requested the five-year sentence of Obi Emeka and Gianluca Di Nardo, tried by the prosecution among mediators of alleged corruption.
The two accused have always rejected the charges. The conviction of Gup Giusy Barbara is scheduled for the next hearing on September 20th.
(Emilio Parodi)
On the website www.reuters.it the other Reuters news in Italian. The best news also on www.twitter.com/reuters_italia
[ad_2]
Source link
