18 November 2009: SHERPA, Global Witness, Greenpeace France, Friends of the Earth, and Alfred Bronwell brought a complaint before the Prosecutor of the Republic of Nantes (France) against the companies DLH France and DLH Nordisk A/S, subsidiaries of the Dalhoff, Larsen and Horneman (DLH) Group, to denounce their purchasing policy in Liberia during the civil war.
During 2010: A preliminary investigation was opened.
Exploitation of timber resources in Liberia – ©Africa7
24 February 2011: SHERPA sent a reminder letter to the public prosecutor’s office to inquire as to the state of proceedings: only on 1 April did it finally make contact with the prosecutor in charge of the case.
22 June 2011: The prosecutor considered it too early to hold a meeting, but indicated that “initial investigations are already in progress, particularly within the competent customs services, to assess the quantities of contentious timber imported”.
16 February 2012: The case was transferred to the public prosecutor’s office of Montpellier.
15 February 2013: Dismissal without further action by the public prosecutor’s office: repeated requests to the public prosector’s office for the case documents met no success.
8 November 2013: Telephone conference with Global Witness and Greenpeace. They agreed in principle to file an adhesion procedure to become a civil party to the case.
10 November 2013: Interview with Mylene Aarslev, ex-wife of a timber trader. She became a civil party in Lisieux, where an investigation had been opened. She possessed information that could lead to an investigation if the adhesion procedure to become a civil party was accepted.
17 March 2014: Submission of the adhesion procedure to become a civil party by the four complainant associations.
2 April 2014: Receipt of the order setting the deposit for the investigating judge, set at 4000 euros. Appeal made by a lawyer in Montpellier against this order.
ACTION IN PROGRESS …
Last modified: 18 December 2019