"Sime Darby Clarifies Video Recording", 19 April 2018

Sime Darby Plantation (SDPL) has clarified circumstances surrounding the video “Oil Palm Fresh Fruit Bunch” theft that occurred at Nimba Point, a town near the plantation, in early January. In the video a young man, about 30 years of age, is seen handcuffed and sitting on the ground, while he is being physically assaulted by a group of five men believed to be Sime Darby’s security officers . He was accused of stealing fresh palm fruit from the Sime Darby plantation and was brutally assaulted. But according to Sime Darby’s management, those involved in the brutal physical assault are not employees of Sime Darby Plantation except one Boima Feika, a security guard, who is already undergoing investigation.  “Upon discovery of this incident, Sime Darby’s management took immediate steps by suspending its chief of security Thomas Walker, the personnel that was allegedly mistreating John Davies, the suspected. Davies has since surrendered himself to officers of the Liberia National Police (LNP) and is undergoing further investigation,” the management told reporters over the weekend.Accordingly, SDPL’s management does not condone any use of physical force and ill treatment by any of its employees, even on those caught stealing the plantation’s palm fruit.