![]() ![]() For about two years he remained under house arrest, after the judge in his ongoing case, Loretta Preska, decided he was a flight risk. Judge Kaplan ruled that he must pay $3.4 million for contempt and to cover Chevron’s legal fees – the largest sanction of this kind in the history of New York courts. In 2019, he was disbarred by the New York Bar Association. “And how dare any human rights lawyer, any environmentalist, any activist movement for justice or environmental responsibility dare to question them?”ĭonziger’s accusers claim he was motivated by greed, hoping to get hundreds of millions of dollars in contingency fees for winning the compensation case against Chevron.ĭonziger dedicated almost three decades of his life to the case. “Big world giants, huge multinational corporations like this have thought that they just had impunity to treat people and to treat the Earth however they want to,” Williamson said during the interview. Also on rt.com ‘I’m a Weapon of Mass Distraction’: American lawyer who took on US oil giant held under house arrest in New York for 500+ days The lawyer’s supporters agree there is plenty of evidence that a blatant miscarriage of justice is going on in the courthouse. She is a private lawyer working for a firm that has a connection with the oil giant, which prompted Donziger’s defense team to dub her a “Chevron prosecutor.” In an irregular move, Rita Glavin was appointed to take the role by Judge Kaplan. The case is heard in the same federal district court in Lower Manhattan, but the prosecutor in the case is notably not working for the corresponding federal prosecutor’s office, which refused to take the case. ![]() Also on rt.com Susan Sarandon and Roger Waters to lead protest at ‘corporate criminal’ trial of anti-Chevron lawyer Chevron pressed on, accusing Donziger of criminal contempt of court. He refused, arguing that it would violate client-attorney privileges and give the company insight into their legal strategy, as they sought ways to go after its assets in various jurisdictions. Among other things, he ordered Donziger to hand over communications with his clients to Chevron’s lawyers. Judge Lewis Kaplan of the District Court for the Southern District of New York passed a guilty verdict in 2014. Part of Chevron’s strategy to avoid paying the Ecuadorians was to accuse Donziger and his clients of racketeering, claiming the original ruling was obtained illegally. Once a corporation is involved, the justice system just goes out of the window… That threatens all of us, really. “If they can torture somebody the way they – he has not been able to make a living, he’s been under house arrest, and all those legal fees – then they can send that message to other activists and journalists,” Sarandon said. As his current case draws to a conclusion, they appeared on the ‘Rising’ program this week to explain how the lawyer’s demise sets a precedent that endangers anybody who dares to go against big money interests in the US. US actress Susan Sarandon and author Marianne Williamson are among an army of public figures and ordinary people taking Donziger’s side. ![]()
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