The widows of four Nigerian activists executed by the military regime in the 1990s launched a court case in the Netherlands Tuesday against oil giant Shell for complicity in their deaths. Shell said it was “inconceivable” that it could have been involved in the death of the men. Kiobel and one of the other widows, Victoria Bera, were in court in The Hague for opening arguments in the case against Shell, while the other two women whose husbands were killed were denied visas to attend. “But Shell is not responsible for these events.”The lawyer added that the Dutch court did not have jurisdiction over the matter. Shell said in a separate statement that it had asked the Nigerian presidency for leniency for the men and “we regret that no response was given”.

Source: Punch February 12, 2019 16:52 UTC