French energy giant sued for ‘war crimes complicity’ – AFP

Two associations have filed a complaint against French oil and gas major TotalEnergies, accusing the firm of “war crimes complicity” in Ukraine, AFP reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the case.

According to the news agency, the complainants are the France-based Darwin Climax Coalition and the Ukrainian group Razom We Stand, who accuse the energy major of holding a stake in a firm which operates a Russian natural gas field, supplying products that are eventually refined into jet fuel. They claim the fuel is used by Russian warplanes in Ukraine.

“By continuing to exploit a deposit” producing gas condensate which is then transformed into fuel, TotalEnergies “contributed to supplying the Russian government with the means necessary for the commission of war crimes,” the complaint reportedly says.

TotalEnergies has rejected the claims, calling them outrageous and defamatory. “These accusations against our Company, which conducts its operations in strict compliance with European Union policy and applicable European sanctions measures, are particularly serious and unfounded in the light of the explanations we have provided,” the company stated.

Last October, the two associations filed a similar complaint, which was closed with no further action after an “exhaustive legal and factual analysis of all the elements submitted by the complainants and, at its own initiative, TotalEnergies,” according to French anti-terrorism prosecutors.

Lawyers for the associations said they plan to contest the decision, and accused the prosecutors of bowing to political pressure.

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