Smuggled Libya oil stored in Enemed tanks: Swiss court acquits journalists

Updated on 26 February with Kolmar Group statement

A Swiss court has acquitted the authors of a report into the sale of smuggled Libyan oil stored in Malta government fuel tanks, which investigation MaltaToday formed part of.

The District Court of Bern-Mittelland rejected criminal defamation charges and acquitted the three authors of a report which alleged that Kolmar Group AG may have violated international law by buying smuggled Libyan oil.

Swiss company Kolmar a trading and oil refining group domiciled in Switzerland, may have broken international law by purchasing fuel sourced from a network of middlemen who were accused of smuggling gasoil from the Zawiya refinery during the civil war in Libya. The smuggled fuel from Libya was stored in tanks it had leased from Enemed between 2014 and 2015. Kolmar has denied knowledge of any illegal activity associated with its procurement of fuel from Libya.

READ ALSO: How smuggled Libyan oil brought by Debonos’ ships was stored in Malta: investigation

The Swiss authorities also launched formal investigations into alleged complicity, following a criminal complaint handed in by TRIAL International and Public Eye, who used data from ship movements and information on bank payments, to show that tanks at Ras Ħanżir and Ħas Saptan were used to store oil delivered by the ships chartered by Darren Debono and Gordon Debono. Both men are also facing charges in Malta in connection with the Operation Dirty Oil smuggling investigation.

Although having implications for Malta, namely as to how smuggled fuel oil from Libya was cleared by Customs and found itself stored inside Enemed fuel tanks, no police investigation has ever been launched into the case.

The acquittal of TRIAL and Public Eye journalists was welcomed by Amnesty International. “The court’s decision to acquit the authors of the report, who were exercising their right to scrutinize the activities of a multinational corporation, helps protect the right to freedom of expression and the work of human rights defenders trying to hold companies to account,” said Mark Dummett.

Amnesty is among over 20 NGOs who welcomed the acquittal. A civil defamation suit brought by Kolmar against the publishers and authors, which seeks US$1.8 million in damages, remains active.

“Kolmar’s filing of criminal and civil complaints against the report’s authors and publishers bear the hallmarks of a Strategic Lawsuit against Public Participation (SLAPP) through which corporations seek to exploit their disproportionate power and wealth to intimidate and silence critical voices,” Dummett said.

Kolmar to appeal judgment

Meanwhile, in a statement the Kolmar Group said it will be appealing the judgment. The company said the article "falsely claimed" that the Kolmar group was involved in war crimes, insisting the allegations caused great damage to its reputation.

"The public prosecutor's office for the Bern-Mitelland region filed charges of defamation against the authors of the article. As Kolmar Group AG legitimately expected that the Bern-Mittelland Regional Court holds the authors accountable for their misconduct, Kolmar Group AG will appeal the ruling before a higher judicial instance," the company statement said.

Kolmar added that the court found that the publications referred to in the indictment constituted a violation of personality rights. However, it added, the defendants were acquitted "on the sole basis of proof of good faith".

Background

Kolmar, of Zug, acquired the oil from the smuggling operation ran by Libyan smuggler Fahmi Slim Ben Khalifa, and Maltese nationals Darren and Gordon Debono, well before the Italian police caught up with the smuggling network.

The oil was cleared by the Malta Customs despite fraudulent certification from Fahmi Slim’s Tiuboda company, while the tanks were leased to Kolmar after the Swiss company made a public bid for the storage. Enemed, the government petroleum divison, has said it was unaware of the illegal contents of the storage because the oil had been cleared by Customs.

Using data from ship movements and information on bank payments, the investigation confirms that the tanks at Ras Ħanżir and Ħas Saptan were used to store oil delivered by the ships chartered by Darren and Gordon Debono.

But the fuel was accepted by the Malta Customs despite fraudulent certificates of origin, and the numerous protests of Libyan leaders about fuel being smuggled into Malta.

Libyan fuel smuggling: A Swiss trader sailing through troubled waters

MaltaToday obtained data through Freedom of Information requests, showing a sustained pattern of deliveries of smuggled Libyan oil, into tanks leased out from Enemed, the government’s petroleum company, by Kolmar.

Specifically, over 20 shipments of marine gasoil from Libya were delivered to Kolmar’s tanks in Malta between the spring of 2014 and the summer of 2015, from ships chartered by Gordon Debono.

These new findings concern activities that predate what was revealed by a United Nations panel of experts in 2015 which led to the arrests of ‘smuggling king’ Fahmi Slim, the Debonos and their Italian associates.

A copy of a Banif Bank statement for Oceano Blu Trading Ltd, a company linked to Darren Debono and based at his San Gwann address, shows that from 18 June to 22 July 2015, Kolmar made 11 transfers totalling over $11 million. Oceano Blu Trading was administered by the Sicilian Nicola Orazio Romeo, who is also indicted over fuel smuggling in Sicily.

The smuggled oil from Libya was being passed off to the Maltese authorities, chiefly the Customs Department, using fraudulent certificates of origin from Fahmi Slim’s company Tiuboda Oil Refining Company: they were accepted from Kolmar by the Maltese authorities without batting an eyelid.