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Nestlé Test Case: Charges filed on murder of Colombian Trade Unionist
ECCHR and the Colombian trade union SINALTRAINAL yesterday filed charges with the Swiss public prosecutor in Zug against the company Nestlé and members of its senior management. They are accused of being responsible, by failing to take precautionary measures, for the 2005 murder of Luciano Romero. The criminal complaint is a case of legal precedence as it could mark the first time a Swiss company is held liable in Switzerland for a crime committed abroad. Luciano Romero was murdered by paramilitaries on 10 September 2005 in Valledupar in north eastern Colombia. His body was found with 50 stab wounds. For years previously he had worked for the Colombian Nestlé subsidiary company Cicolac. The accused are said to have negligently failed to prevent the crime.