02 Dec Cheney to Be Charged with Bribery in Nigeria
So Business Week reports, noting that Nigeria intends to file a request for a Red Notice with Interpol:
Nigeria will file charges against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and officials from five foreign companies including Halliburton Co. over a $180 million bribery scandal, a prosecutor at the anti-graft agency said.
Indictments will be lodged in a Nigerian court “in the next three days,” Godwin Obla, prosecuting counsel at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, said in an interview today at his office in Abuja, the capital. An arrest warrant for Cheney “will be issued and transmitted through Interpol,” the world’s biggest international police organization, he said.
Peter Long, Cheney’s spokesman, said he couldn’t immediately comment when contacted today and said he would respond later to an e-mailed request for comment.
Obla said charges will be filed against current and former chief executive officers of Halliburton, including Cheney, who was CEO from 1995 to 2000, and its former unit KBR Inc., based in Houston, Texas; Technip SA, Europe’s second-largest oilfield- services provider; Eni SpA, Italy’s biggest oil company; and Saipem Construction Co., a unit of Eni. Obla didn’t identify the former officials whom he said held office when the alleged bribes were paid.
Last week, Nigeria arrested at least 23 officials from companies including Halliburton, Saipem, Technip and a former subsidiary of Panalpina Welttransport Holding AG in connection with alleged illegal payments to Nigerian officials. Those detained were all freed on bail on Nov. 29.
These are deadly serious charges. As Business Week notes, “KBR and Halliburton agreed to pay $579 million in February 2009 for bribery payments in Nigeria that stretched from 1994 to 2004.
It is unlikely, of course, that the US would honor a Red Notice, arrest Cheney, and extradite him to Nigeria. If the Red Notice is issued — and that, of course, remains to be seen — it will be interesting to hear why not.
UPDATE: For what it’s worth, the far less tendentious FP Blog agrees with me that these charges are serious.
Response…
too bad, they should charge him for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity —
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2009/05/complicity-of-dick-cheney-no-necessity.php
Jordan,
Not surprisingly, I completely agree. But these charges at least have the advantage of being relatively more insulated from claims of politics. They are business crimes, pure and simple.
Response…
and, actually, the others are international pure and simple
Interesting Article. I am curious to know what you think the USG would do if the Red Notice was issued? The US does have an extradition treaty with Nigeria (47 Stat. 2122) and bribery is one of the offenses that applies. Despite the non-political nature of the offense, I can easily see the issue of extradition becoming a subject of political debate especially in light of the fact that the SEC has already investigated these issues and supposedly cleared Cheney.
very interesting,for sure the whole world is curious to see what will be the response from the USG.And how the interpool will act if—-goes smooth.Will wait persistently.
Anyone have a copy of the extradition treaty? It’s an old one… looks like it dates from the 30’s.
As for extradition treaties in general, well, they’re “More honor’d in the breach than the observance”