A Dutch court ruled…that Royal Dutch Shell can be held partially responsible for pollution in the Niger Delta in southern Nigeria, saying the company should have prevented sabotage at one of its facilities. The district court in The Hague ordered Shell to pay unspecified damages to one farmer, but dismissed four other claims filed against the Dutch parent company. The case was seen by activists as a test for holding multinational companies responsible for alleged offences at foreign subsidiaries...The court backed Shell's argument that the spills were caused by sabotage and not poor maintenance of its facilities, as had been argued by the Nigerians…The Nigerians - fishermen and farmers - said they could no longer feed their families because the region had been polluted by oil from Shell's pipelines and production facilities…It is the first time a Dutch-registered company has been sued in a domestic court for offences allegedly carried out by a foreign subsidiary…