The Process in Basel Regarding the Bruno Manser Fund Continues Controversially
Published: Wednesday, Aug 16th 2023, 16:00
Mise à jour le : Vendredi, 13 octobre 2023, 14:12
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The Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) and a Malaysian-Canadian business couple, Jamilah Taib Murray and Sean Murray, are in a legal dispute at the Basel Civil Court. The couple is suing the environmental protection organization for alleged defamation of character and are demanding the deletion of 249 publications by the BMF. The private individuals and their two real estate companies were not present at the hearing and were represented by the Basel law firm Vischer. The lawyer for the plaintiffs accused the NGO and its director Lukas Straumann of conducting a "smear campaign" against Taib Murray and her family. The lawyers for the defendants argued that the lawsuit was not about protecting the reputation, but about "driving the Bruno Manser Fund to financial ruin" and "forcing them to capitulate". They referred to the fact that the Basel prosecutor's office dismissed a criminal case against the BMF initiated by the plaintiffs in July 2022. The lawyers for the defendants also argued that the accusations against the Taib family were justified, as it was mathematically impossible for Abdul Taib Mahmud to have acquired his wealth solely through his political office. A delegation of Penan representatives also attended the hearing, as they have a vested interest in knowing who took away their forest and profited from it. The financial claims of the plaintiffs were not part of the hearing. The BMF was founded in 1991 by Bruno Manser, who lived in the rainforest of Malaysian Borneo with the nomadic Penan people in the 1980s. He became known for his actions against the deforestation of the rainforest, which led to him being declared a persona non grata by the Malaysian government in 1990. Manser has been missing since 2000 and was declared missing by the Basel authorities in 2005.nnnnnnnnnn
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