Swedish prosecutors charged the chairman and former CEO of Lundin Energy on Thursday with participation in war crimes committed in southern Sudan by the Sudanese army and allied militia from 1999 to 2003.
Prosecutors claim that the business sought the Sudanese government to protect a possible oil resource, knowing that doing so would require the forceful seizure of the territory. As a result, the executives became implicated in war crimes committed against people by the Sudanese army and allied militia.
“What constitutes involvement in a criminal sense is that they made these requests despite knowing or, in any case, being oblivious to the military and militia carrying out the conflict in a fashion that was prohibited by international humanitarian law,” the prosecutor’s authority stated in a statement.
Lundin Energy, based in Sweden, stated in a statement that the company rejects any charges of wrongdoing. Chairman Ian Lundin and former CEO Alex Schneiter, who is now a board member, were named as charged executives. The Sudan business was sold in 2003 by the company, which was known as Lundin Oil until 2001.
Torgny Wetterberg, Ian Lundin’s lawyer, stated on Thursday that his client is innocent: “Convictions will never be achieved by the prosecutor. Every aspect of the prosecution’s case is flawed.”
Schneiter’s lawyer could not be reached for comment right away.
Prosecutors also filed a lawsuit against Lundin Energy for the confiscation of 1.39 billion crowns ($161.7 million), the profit the company made from the sale of the Sudan business in 2003. This assertion would be challenged, according to the business.
Ian Lundin will not seek re-election as chairman at the business’s next annual general meeting, according to the company, whose shares were down 4% at 1100 GMT.
The charges are the result of an investigation that began in 2010. Prosecutors would examine Lundin and Schneiter, the business stated in 2016.
Sudan waged war in South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011, and other troubled areas of the country for decades. Sudan’s former president, Omar al-Bashir, is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for genocide and other war crimes, which he denies. He ruled from 1989 until his overthrow in 2019 following popular protests.
