Attorneys for Israeli diamond magnate Beny Steinmetz have urged a Swiss appeals courtroom to throw out testimony from a former first girl of Guinea that contributed to his conviction for corruption.
The case entails an alleged plot, courting to the mid-2000s, through which Steinmetz’s BSGR Group squeezed out a rival for mining rights for huge iron ore deposits in Guinea’s south-eastern Simandou area.
The case has uncovered the shady and sophisticated world of deal-making and cutthroat competitors within the profitable mining enterprise.
The prosecutor’s workplace has argued that from 2005 onward, Steinmetz crafted a pact of corruption with Guinean president Lansana Conte, who dominated the West African nation from 1984 till his dying in 2008, and with Mamadie Toure, his fourth spouse, involving the cost of practically 10 million dollars (£8.5 million).
Showing earlier than a Geneva appeals courtroom on Monday, Steinmetz’s lawyer Daniel Kinzer stated the phrases and circumstances of a deal between Ms Toure and the FBI in the US had been unclear, and defence attorneys by no means had an opportunity to query her – depriving Steinmetz of the prospect for a good trial and the precise to cross-examine her, he stated.
He stated Swiss state prosecutors had “intentionally” excluded defence groups from any pre-trial questioning of Ms Toure in the US, the place she lives.
She has reached an settlement with US authorities within the case.
Ms Toure didn't seem for the unique trial in January final 12 months.
At its conclusion, Steinmetz was sentenced to 5 years in jail and ordered to pay a 50 million Swiss franc (£44 million) high quality.
Two different defendants acquired lesser penalties.
“It’s simpler to falsely accuse a defendant once you don’t have to have a look at them,” Mr Kinzer stated.
“The defence group was by no means capable of cross-examine Madame Toure.”
He stated a “face-to-face confrontation” was required beneath each Swiss legislation and from rulings by the European Courtroom of Human Rights.
Geneva state prosecutor Yves Bertossa countered, nonetheless, that such accounts had been admissible, however that that they had for use “with a sure prudence”.
He stated it was an “extraordinary” insinuation that US or Swiss prosecutors is likely to be “in cahoots” with Ms Toure, and stated that different materials parts to the case – resembling written contracts, financial institution statements, and proof from wiretaps – had been ample to uphold conviction.
The enchantment is anticipated to run by till September 7.
A verdict is anticipated at a later date.
Backers of the Israeli tycoon insist that the decrease courtroom didn't get a full understanding of the details of the case, and consider that the courtroom needed to set an instance that Switzerland – which has had a popularity through the years for secretive monetary dealings – can maintain monetary kingpins to account when obligatory.
After the decision, Swiss transparency group Public Eye hailed a “landmark ruling” that confirmed the courtroom may see by a “slick” authorized defence.
Steinmetz, 66, has denied the fees and stays free pending the enchantment.
If the conviction is upheld, his attorneys can enchantment to the Swiss federal courtroom.
He was in courtroom on Monday.
In its courtroom submitting, the prosecutor’s workplace stated BSGR received exploration and exploitation licences in Guinea between 2006 and 2010 in Guinea’s south-eastern Simandou area, whereas its competitor – Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto – was stripped of its mining rights on two websites within the area.
Steinmetz’s defence group says a mountain vary within the space holds a number of the world’s largest untapped deposits of iron ore, and the standoff has stifled any hopes to reap them – and supply a possible windfall for an impoverished nation.
They are saying BSGR was the primary firm to check the feasibility of mining iron ore within the space.