Trafigura boss Dauphin prosecuted for pollution

This is a satirical video from the Netherlands on Trafigura and their Probo Koala pollution scandal.

Translated from Greenpeace in the Netherlands:

Trafigura chairman will be prosecuted at last

Press Release – January 30, 2012

Amsterdam – After a long procedure including objection, appeal and cassation, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal today has decided that the prosecution is allowed to sue Trafigura executive Claude Dauphin in the case of the Probo Koala.

Dauphin can be prosecuted for actually directing the illegal export of the Probo Koala waste to Ivory Coast.

Material obtained from research by Greenpeace and others in recent years shows that the chairman of Trafigura, Claude Dauphin, was informed and involved, from the beginning to the end, in the origin and allowing of the dumping of toxic waste of the Probo Koala in Ivory Coast.

Earlier leaked email correspondence between the chairman and employees of Trafigura shows that from the beginning it was known that the experimental mixing process that Trafigura did aboard the ship Probo Koala would result in toxic waste. Also, the company knew that there are just a few places in the world where such toxic waste could be handled responsibly. The company knew that the transport of the toxic waste that would be produced from the European Union to other countries was illegal.

According to Greenpeace, that is deliberate circumvention of legislation. The judges thought so as well, and the Amsterdam Court recently convicted the company Trafigura for the deliberate and illegal export of waste to Ivory Coast.

Greenpeace is pleased that now the chief of Trafigura will have to stand trial as well. Marietta Harjono, Greenpeace: “Dauphin was personally involved and knowingly accepted the risk of causing damage to people and the environment by exporting the toxic waste to Ivory Coast.”

A timeline of all major events in this complex case is here.