space Press Releases, News Stories

CAMBODIAN COURT CONVICTS TAIWAN MEN OVER DUMPING

Reuters

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia, 17 June, 1999 -- A Cambodian court yesterday convicted two Taiwan men in absentia over the dumping of about 3,000 tonnes of mercury-tainted waste last year.

The court in the southern port city of Sihanoukville sentenced Chang Ku Fung and Kao Chee Song to five years in jail and ordered them to pay more than $480,000 in compensation.

The pair had represented Taiwan's Jade Fortune International Ltd, which was hired by petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics Corp to export the waste from Taiwan late last year.

The pair were alleged to have left Cambodia in December, soon after the waste was found near Sihanoukville. The discovery caused panic as thousands fled the city fearing contamination and sparked two days of violent protests. One person was killed.

The waste, described in shipping documents as "cement cake", was imported in November. The Cambodian government denounced the dumping and Formosa removed it from the country in March.

"They (the two men) are really responsible. They falsified documents for the purpose of bringing the mercury-tainted waste into Cambodia," prosecutor Mourn Mith told the municipal court.

Also convicted in absentia was the Taiwan men's Cambodian translator, Phan Pheui, who also received five years in jail.

The director of the Cambodian firm that imported the waste, Sam Moeun, was sentenced to seven months in jail for endangering lives and property and conspiring to import hazardous waste.

Six months of the sentence were suspended because he had been held in detention since December, court officials said.

The court ordered the two Taiwan men and their translator to pay nearly $500,000 to various government ministries in compensation and for the clean-up of the waste.

The prosecutor dropped charges against three Cambodian customs and import inspection officials, saying they did not know the waste was hazardous when they allowed it into the country.

FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The Basel Action Network is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability and environmental justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a `fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond `fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
More News