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(HERALD) Zim legal team ready to face EU, says AG

Zim legal team ready to face EU, says AG
Friday, 28 October 2011 00:00
Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter

A TEAM of lawyers is expected to leave for Brussels, Belgium, next week to file a lawsuit against the European Union for imposing illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe. Attorney-General Mr Johannes Tomana yesterday said the team had finished compiling the court papers and was awaiting visas.

The papers will be filed at the General Court of the European Court of Justice. On arrival in Brussels, Mr Tomana said, the team will brief the EU council on its mission before filing the suit.

"What I can tell you is that we are done with the paperwork and what is only left is to get the necessary travel documents to Europe," said Mr Tomana.

"We do not know how long will this process take, but within a week we expect to have received our invitations and visas to enable us to travel to Europe.

"After arriving in Europe, we will brief the EU Council after which we will file our court papers."

Mr Tomana refused to name lawyers in the team, but authoritative sources said it was made up of experienced attorneys drawn from Zimbabwe, the region and abroad.

Asked about details in the court papers Mr Tomana said: "The document is not yet in the public domain and people should wait until we file it after which it will then become a public document."

However, The Herald is reliably informed that Zimbabwe contends that the imposition and continued existence of the embargo was a travesty of international law since the United Nations did not approve of them.

"The basis of this lawsuit is clear that the sanctions were imposed outside the United Nations, hence making them illegal.

"We cannot have a situation where a certain regional bloc is allowed to abuse the UN Charter in that manner," said one source.

In a letter to the EU in September, Mr Tomana exposed the bloc's glaring blunders on arriving at the imposition of the sanctions.

The AG said the EU did not communicate its decision to people and companies on the sanctions list as required by Article (2) of the Council Decision.

Some of the companies on the sanctions list include Agribank, Jongwe Printers and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation.

The 27-member bloc imposed illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe in retaliation to the fast-track land reform programme initiated by Government in 2000.

The land reform programme was a noble initiative aimed at addressing colonial land ownership imbalances and has seen more than 4 million people being resettled on land previously controlled by less than 5 000 whites.

China and Russia vetoed Britain and its western allies' bid to have the UN Security Council legalise the sanctions.

The decade-long sanctions have destroyed Zimbabwe's economy with most companies shutting down while others are now operating below capacity.

After the formation of the inclusive Government in 2009, Zimbabwe set a re-engagement committee led by Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi to explore ways of normalising relations.

Little progress has been made to date since the EU had not shown serious commitment to the dialogue.

Labels: EU, JOHANNES TOMANA, SANCTIONS, SIMBARASHE MUMBENGEGWI

posted by MrK @ 5:18 PM