(JED/IFEX) – In a recent fax from the law firm Herzog, Fox & Neeman, based in Tel-Aviv, Israel, Yaakov Neeman, a lawyer for EMAXON International Finance Inc, a Canadian subsidiary of the Israeli diamond firm DGI Group of Companies, demanded that the Kinshasa-based daily “Le Potentiel” publish a correction to a recent story that appeared […]
(JED/IFEX) – In a recent fax from the law firm Herzog, Fox & Neeman, based in Tel-Aviv, Israel, Yaakov Neeman, a lawyer for EMAXON International Finance Inc, a Canadian subsidiary of the Israeli diamond firm DGI Group of Companies, demanded that the Kinshasa-based daily “Le Potentiel” publish a correction to a recent story that appeared in the paper entitled, “Diamonds: the MIBA forces EMAXON to increase the price of shipment M10-03”. The fax was dated 17 December 2003 and addressed to the newspaper’s secretary-general. The article was published in “Le Potentiel”‘s 16 December edition (issue 3001).
EMAXON’s lawyer said the article about the contract signed by the Bakwanga mining company (Minière de Bakwanga, MIBA, a Congolese firm that operates in East Kasai province) and EMAXON on 13 April contains incorrect and defamatory information, and that “this was done deliberately to harm our client’s reputation.” As such, EMAXON is demanding payment of US$15 million in damages and interest from “Le Potentiel”. EMAXON is also demanding that the paper “remove the incriminating article from its website and archives without delay, write and publish a correction, and solemnly pledge to no longer publish similar information that is patently false.”
The 16 December article described the “first snag between MIBA and EMAXON, which took place during the sale of a parcel of diamonds bearing the code M10-03, in Antwerp, Belgium, because of the low average buying price offered by EMAXON’s examiner.” The paper also said, “According to sources close to MIBA representatives in Kinshasa, tough negotiations took place between the two parties before an agreement was finally reached on the price of the package, which contained about 550 carats of diamonds”. “Le Potentiel” added that, “The EMAXON examiner’s attempt to lower MIBA’s average product price was interpreted by the company’s senior officials as a tactic aimed at convincing the Congolese firm to sell its precious stones at a very low price”.
Without commenting on the facts of the case, JED believes “Le Potentiel” only did its work in reporting on the facts of this business transaction, which took place in a public setting. Sources close to MIBA have not denied the facts as reported in the paper. EMAXON itself has not denied any of the basic facts of the story either, beyond a few small details concerning the figures published in the paper. As such, JED condemns EMAXON’s lawyer’s letter to “Le Potentiel” as a thinly-veiled attempt at blackmail. The organisation also believes it is unacceptable that EMAXON is seeking the article’s removal from the paper’s website and archives. This constitutes a clear attack on the right to freely distribute information as guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a party.
Moreover, JED finds it curious that the figure of US$15 million sought by EMAXON in damages and interest is exactly the same sum that MIBA agreed to pay the firm over the next four years as part of the controversial loan and purchasing contract signed by the respective parties. JED sees this as a clear attempt to silence a “troublesome” media outlet. “Le Potentiel” previously criticised certain clauses of the MIBA-EMAXON contract while urging the Congolese authorities to renegotiate terms of the contract that are reportedly viewed as harmful to the DRC’s interests. Some MIBA officials supported this call at a special meeting of the company held on 30 September.
