A Dutch court said on Wednesday it has jurisdiction to hear a damages suit brought against Royal Dutch Shell by four widows of activists executed by the Nigerian government in 1995.
In a preliminary decision, judges at the Hague District Court said they would allow the suit to go forward, a rare win in a decades-long legal fight, though the claimants must still prove their case. Shell denies wrongdoing or responsibility.
“The court considers itself capable” of hearing the case, said presiding judge Larissa Alwin, reading the decision of a three-judge panel. “This procedure will continue.”
Dutch courts do not award large punitive damages claims, though the case has the potential to embarrass Shell and provide a measure of comfort for the activists’ families if it finds the company bears responsibility in their deaths.
The men executed were a group that became known as the “Ogoni Nine” – activists who included writer Ken…
