Global Witness (London)
15 August 2007
press release
The London High Court has dismissed an attempt by a top official of the Republic of Congo, an oil-rich yet poor African country, to stop anti-corruption watchdog Global Witness from publishing evidence that suggests he made 'secret personal profits' from sales of state oil.
Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso is the son of the President of Congo and head of Cotrade, a public agency which sells the country's oil. In June, Global Witness published documents from a Hong Kong court case which show that he and another official spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on what seem to be personal items, including designer brands. The bills were paid by companies which appear to have received, via other shell companies, money related to Congo's oil sales
Sassou-Nguesso and his company, Long Beach Limited, sought a London court injunction to force Global Witness to remove his company records and credit card statements from its website. In a judgment handed down on Wednesday, Judge Stanley Burnton rejected the claim, ruling that "it is an obvious possible inference that [Sassou Nguesso's] expenditure has been financed by secret personal profits made out of dealings in oil sold by Cotrade."
Judge Burnton said: "Once there is good reason to doubt the propriety of the financial affairs of a public official, there is a public interest in those affairs being open to public scrutiny." He said the documents "unless explained, frankly suggest" that Mr Sassou Nguesso and his company were "unsavoury and corrupt" and concluded that "the profits of Cotrade's oil sales should go to the people of the Congo, not to those who rule it or their families."
The case has international implications because Congo was controversially given debt relief in March 2006 after promising the international community to clean up the management of its oil sector and end conflicts of interest by public officials, especially in the marketing of oil.
Global Witness Director Patrick Alley said: "The High Court ruling is a spectacular victory for the right of Congo's citizens to know about how public officials are managing their country's wealth and for freedom of speech in general. Public officials like Sassou-Nguesso should explain their financial affairs, not try to use the courts to block public debate."
Mark Stephens of Finers Stephens Innocent LLP, which represented Global Witness, said: "This is a triumph for human rights. It shows that unsavoury figures from autocratic regimes can't expect English judges to cover up for them under some exorbitant notion of privacy."
The documents can be viewed at:
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