The Lawyer Who Fought Chevron for “Chernobyl of the Amazon” is Now a “Corporate Political Prisoner”
Last year the world was shocked by the devastating fires which tore through the Amazon rainforest. People from all corners of the globe voiced their sadness and support on social media, celebrities came forth with pledges of support, and Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro become the public face of the ruin of the rainforest.
With all the concern over the situation, however, those who truly care about the rainforests of South America missed an important development in the multi-generational fight against the corporations most responsible for deforestation and oil drilling in the earth’s most biologically diverse natural ecosystems.
Steven Donziger has been fighting for indigenous land rights and social justice in South America for over 25 years, and is celebrated as the lawyer who stood up to and won a $9.5 billion dollar settlement against Chevron in 2011 for polluting Lago Agrio, Ecuador with cancer-causing chemicals, poisoning many indigenous groups in the region.
For more than two decades Steven Donziger has taken on one of the largest and most important fights for corporate accountability in history on behalf of indigenous and rainforest communities. His ability to stare down one of the most vicious corporate attacks in history is nothing short of astounding and serves as an inspiration to untold numbers of people around the world. ~Paul Paz y Miño, Associate Director, Amazon Watch
Since then, Chevron has waged a long war of targeted harassment against Donziger, hiring private investigators and an army of lawyers and law firms to make his life a living hell and bankrupt his family. On August 6th, 2019, Donziger was placed on house arrest in his home in New York City, after a judge held him in contempt of court for refusing to turn over his personal computer and phone for review by Chevron lawyers.
I’m like a corporate political prisoner… They are trying to totally destroy me. ~Steven Donziger
Chevron’s extraordinary campaign against Donziger has resulted in him being disbarred, having his personal bank accounts frozen, lien against his personal residence, and outrageous fines against him. Chevron, on the other hand, with market capital in the hundreds of billions of dollars, has already beaten the $9.5 billion in fines, and is clearly using this case to make both a public example and a legal precedent for those who would dare attempt to hold corporations responsible for wanton environmental damage.
https://www.naturalblaze.com/2020/02/the-lawyer-who-fought-chevron-for-chernobyl-of-the-amazon-is-now-a-corporate-political-prisoner.html