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Motion for a New Trial denied by California District Court. Appeal Planned.
EarthRights International is co-counsel in a case, Bowoto v. Chevron, charging Chevron with complicity in brutal attacks against nonviolent demonstrators in Nigeria who protested the oil company's environmental destruction and economic disruption in their communities. In May 1998, members of the Ilaje community staged a peaceful protest at Chevron's Parabe oil platform off the Nigerian coast. Chevron called in the Nigerian military and "kill and go" police, flew them to the platform on Chevron-contracted helicopters, and supervised their attack against the protesters. Two demonstrators were killed, others were shot, and several others were detained and tortured. In November 2008, a jury found in favor of the defendants on all charges. The plaintiffs are appealing that decision with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A similar case in California state court seeking to stop Chevron's ongoing harmful practices was settled in early 2009.
