(AFP / LOU BENOIST)
A legal front closed, at least temporarily, for TotalEnergies: French justice has declared inadmissible, for procedural reasons, a complaint from two associations targeting the oil group for complicity in Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
In an order issued on October 19, of which AFP became aware on Wednesday, the dean of the investigating judges of the crimes against humanity division of the Paris judicial court closed the case by declaring inadmissible the Bordeaux NGO Darwin Climax Coalition and the Ukrainian Razom We Stand, which calls for an embargo on fossil energy imports from Russia.
These associations filed a first complaint in October 2022 based on several documents revealed by Le Monde and an investigation by the NGO Global Witness.
They criticized the French giant for continuing to exploit a deposit in Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine, which would have made it possible to manufacture fuel used by Russian military aviation.
“If it is confirmed, TotalEnergies takes note of this decision,” said a spokesperson for the group on Wednesday, informed by AFP of this inadmissibility order.
The group saw this as confirmation of its position that “these serious accusations were completely unfounded in both law and fact.”
The initial complaint was closed without further action by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat) for insufficiently characterized offense, “after an in-depth legal and factual analysis of all the elements transmitted by the complainants and, on its own initiative, by TotalEnergies”.
After a first appeal was dismissed, the associations filed a complaint with the constitution of a civil party in March 2023, a procedure which generally makes it possible to obtain the appointment of an investigating judge.
But in accordance with the Pnat’s requisitions, the dean rejected the associations’ request for procedural reasons, considering that they did not respect the necessary five years of seniority nor did they have the appropriate social purpose to take legal action. in this type of files.
– “Hinderance” –
“The very restrictive vision given to the interest in taking action hinders the pursuit of investigations on a major subject,” commented Messrs William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth, lawyers for the NGOs contacted by AFP, on Wednesday.
“It hinders the action of civil society even though converging elements had been brought together supporting Total’s complicity. This obstacle is all the more questionable as the invasion in Ukraine continues in total disregard of international law,” they said. they added.
However, the two lawyers did not appeal, and indicated that they were exploring other avenues of appeal.
The complainants recalled in detail that TotalEnergies held until September 2022 49% of the Terneftegaz joint venture, which exploits the Termokarstovoye deposit, in the far Russian North.
However, according to Le Monde and Global Witness, the Termokarstovoie field supplied gas condensate to a refinery which made it into fuel then shipped to power Russian planes engaged in the conflict in Ukraine, at least until July 2022.
The French energy giant assured at the time that it did not produce “kerosene for the Russian army”, then specified that it had reached an agreement to sell its shares, emphasizing “conducting its operations in strict compliance with EU policy and applicable European sanctions measures.
Before the conflict in Ukraine, TotalEnergies was one of the French groups most exposed in Russia in terms of energy.
It announced at the end of April 2022 a “start of withdrawal”, and four months later the gradual suspension of its activities in Russia for “those which do not contribute to the energy supply of the European continent”.
In total, over the year 2022, TotalEnergies had written down Russian assets worth 15 billion dollars (13.8 billion euros).
The only major exception, TotalEnergies is still linked to a liquefied gas (LNG) supply contract backed by the Yamal LNG gas field in Siberia, absent from European sanctions against Moscow.
Before French MPs, the group’s CEO, Patrick Pouyanné, indicated at the end of 2022 that he would maintain this contract “for the well-being of European populations, to ensure security of supply for Europe”.
Since 2019, TotalEnergies has also been subject to several legal proceedings launched by NGOs on climate, environmental and social issues.