A court in Ivory Coast jailed two people over the deadly 2006 dumping of toxic waste from a ship chartered by an international oil trader, but victims complained that not all of those responsible were punished.
ABIDJAN (Reuters) - A court in Ivory Coast jailed two people over the deadly 2006 dumping of toxic waste from a ship chartered by an international oil trader, but victims complained that not all of those responsible were punished.
At least 17 people were killed and thousands more made ill by the dumping of the noxious waste at unprotected sites around the commercial capital Abidjan. The case caused a public outcry in the world's No. 1 cocoa producer and raised questions about the dumping of toxic materials in Africa.
In the court sentencing late Wednesday, Nigerian Salomon Ugborugbo, director of the local Tommy company which had used trucks to distribute the waste around Abidjan two years ago, was given a 20-year sentence on a charge of "poisoning."
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The prosecution had asked for a life sentence.
Ivorian shipping agent Desire Kouao received a five-year sentence for "complicity" over the same charge.
Seven local port, customs and maritime officials were acquitted from charges over their role in the affair.
No representatives from the Dutch-based international oil trader, Trafigura, which had chartered the Panamanian-registered Probo Koala vessel that unloaded the waste, were accused in the Abidjan trial that had opened late last month.
Trafigura had already agreed a nearly $200 million out-of-court compensation settlement with the Ivory Coast government which exempted it from legal proceedings.
The company denies any responsibility for the deaths and illnesses suffered by Abidjan residents.
Victims said full justice had not been done.
"They gave us a decision that has not hit the right people," Denis Pipira, president of the association representing victims, told Reuters in Abidjan.
VICTIMS WANT MORE COMPENSATION
"There is no will to serve the victims. This is shocking and unacceptable. They should have also charged Trafigura. They did not jail those who allowed the waste in," Pipira said.
Defense lawyers in the Abidjan hearings repeatedly complained that it was unfair for their clients to be in the dock when executives from Trafigura were not on trial.
"Mr. Salomon (Ugborugbo) did not know this product was toxic, but Trafigura, who were exempted from the case, did know it was toxic," said Ugborugbo's defense lawyer, Diabate Bamba Oule, who added he would appeal against the sentence against his client.
When the Abidjan trial opened, Trafigura said in a statement it would present independent experts in due course to prove the waste could not have been responsible for their illness.
The petrochemical waste was described by Trafigura as "slops," residues from gasoline mixed with caustic washings.
Trafigura faces a possible class action suit next year in London courts brought by British law firm Leigh Day & Co representing thousands of Ivorian victims seeking tens of millions of dollars in compensation.
"The 22,000 Ivorians that we represent in civil proceedings in London primarily want to see justice in terms of what Trafigura did," said lead lawyer Martyn Day.
"They will not be satisfied until Trafigura has been brought in front of the Court and held to account for their actions," he told Reuters in an emailed statement.
Many victims have been compensated from the out-of-court settlement. But many say they have not received enough.
During the scandal, Abidjan hospitals were overwhelmed as thousands sought treatment for vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and breathing difficulties after exposure to noxious fumes.
(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit:Â africa.reuters.com/)
(Additional reporting by David Lewis in Dakar and Alain Amontchi in Abidjan; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Richard Balmforth)
