“I still remember the day they took my husband.
#EXXON THE ROAD NOT TAKEN SUMMARY TRIAL#
“This ruling that the case can go to trial is the good news we have been waiting for,” she told Al Jazeera through tears. Jane Doe alleges that her husband, who has since died, was taken and beaten by members of the Indonesian army who were working as security guards at Arun gas field and that her son was also assaulted. One of the plaintiffs, listed in the lawsuit as Jane Doe to protect her identity, said that the trauma of her experience remains as fresh as the day it allegedly took place. “I filed this case in 2001, 21 years ago, and finally we are going to get our day in court to obtain justice for our clients,” Collingsworth told Al Jazeera. Terry Collingsworth, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said that it had been a long road getting to this point. While the court’s reasoning remains under seal, it is believed that some of the claims of battery, assault, arbitrary arrest, detention, false imprisonment and conversion were denied in part due to the statute of limitations having expired. The case has languished in the US courts system since 2001, when the villagers first filed a claim with the District Court for the District of Columbia, due to legal challenges by ExxonMobil and a chronic backlog of cases. In a summary judgement dated July 22, US District Judge Royce Lamberth denied in part ExxonMobil’s attempts to have the case dismissed, paving the way for the plaintiffs’ allegations to be heard in court.
The 11 villagers from Aceh Province allege that they and their family members were tortured, sexually assaulted, raped and beaten in and around the ExxonMobil oil and gas plant located in the city of Lhoksukon during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Medan, Indonesia – A group of Indonesian villagers who are suing ExxonMobil for alleged human rights abuses will get their day in court after a judge ruled that their case can go to trial following more than two decades in legal limbo.
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