Probo Koala: trial delayed to Thursday

Monday 23 June 2008

A court in Amsterdam will begin preliminary hearings on Thursday in trial of a number of people implicated in the Probo Koala toxic waste scandal. Some of the hearings had been due to begin on Monday. No reason was given for the delay.

Amsterdam-based oil trader Trafigura, the ship’s captain, Amsterdam city council officials and staff from waste processor APS all face prosecution.

The court case focuses on the few days Probo Koala was moored in Amsterdam in 2006. The waste, originally destined to be processed in the Dutch capital, was pumped back onto the ship against official regulations after Trafigura said the clean-up was too expensive.

The waste was later dumped in the Ivory Coast port city of Abdijan. Thousands of people became ill and 16 are said to have died.

From Thursday the court will decide which witnesses will be heard when the main trial begins later this year.

Other court cases concerning the Probo Koala affair are also pending London.

© DutchNews.nl

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