Lundin’s appeal to terminate the investigation is rejected
The District Court’s ruling from last year to allow the prosecutor to continue the war crimes investigation against Lundin has been upheld on 27 April by the Svea Court of Appeal...The defence teams announced that they will now take the matter to Sweden’s supreme court, the Högsta Domstolen.
The appeal was based on Art. 6.1 of the European Convention of Human Rights, that gives suspects the right to a trial within reasonable time after the opening of legal proceedings. Neither the European Convention nor Swedish case-law seem to support the appeal. That the case will now be taken to the Högsta Domstolen may be explained by the ‘robust’ legal defence strategy of Lundin Energy.
Attorney Percy Bratt, who represents a group of plaintiffs, remarks that the European Convention also establishes that victims of crimes have the right to access to justice.
Whether the prosecutor will wait to bring charges until he Supreme Court decides the appeal remains unclear...