Thread by @pace_nik

1/ I'm at the Milan Palace of Justice this morning for the latest hearing in the trial of Shell and Eni for their OPL 245 deal. The witness today should be Richard Granier Deferre, former Nigerian oil minister Dan Etete's advisor and former lawyer. Follow for live-tweeting.

2/ Could be very interesting today. The witness allegedly drew a flowchart mapping out expected kickbacks to Shell and Eni managers. (they deny this)

RAI Report (Italian TV news) had no luck trying to interview Granier Deferre about the allegation. report.rai.it/dl/Report/punt…

3/ A couple of recent updates before the court gets underway. Last Friday Dutch prosecutors said they had identified “prosecutable offences” by Shell around the OPL 245 deal, Shell said they expect to face criminal charges in the Netherlands. nytimes.com/2019/03/01/bus…

4/ Also last week UK Trade minister @LiamFox chatted on stage at #ipweek with one of the defendants in the trial, former senior Shell exec Malcolm Brinded. Labour MP and Shadow Minister @barrygardiner blasted the event. huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/liam-fox…

5/ Granier Deferre explaining how he helped found the oil company Addax and between 2001 and 2010 was helping Etete, his friend, find a buyer for OPL 245.

6/ Granier Deferre claims he didn't know why the middleman (and defendant) Ednan Agaev got in touch with him about OPL 245. But he's confronted with his previous statement that he knew Shell had told Agaev to get in touch with him. Denies saying this [jamais, jamais, jamais!]

7/ Granier Deferre is then asked about how he introduced the other middleman Obi to Etete at a meeting in Vienna. He knew Obi was connected to Eni but didn't know if he had a contract. Says he doesn't remember. Keeps being asked about his previous statements that seem to differ.

8/ Granier Deferre says he advised Etete on his contract with the middleman Ednan Agaev. Also knew about Etete meeting someone from Eni in Milan but wasn't at the meeting.

9/ Granier Deferre is asked about his notes he took on the deal and the famous flowchart. He claims it was his dream of the deal, he say it shows Malabu opening two banks accounts to receive money from the deal and "management' refers to Malabu not Eni or Shell.

10/ Prosecutor asks why in 2016 he said management must mean Eni or Shell as Malabu had no management? Granier Deferre now says it definitely didn't mean Eni or Shell. Prosecutor asks why he has a better memory now? Says he's telling the truth. Asked didn't he tell it before?

11/ Granier Deferre said that looking at the documents three weeks ago and talking to his lawyer he realised the diagram and management had nothing to do with Shell or Eni. He says he was under pressure three years ago when he made the statement.

12/ Granier Deferre is asked about an email he admits he wrote about the arrival of a beautiful 6.1kg baby. Asked why he talked about kilos when he was paid $6.1m by Malabu? - He says he was actually paid by a different company, Rocky Top which he didn't know who owned.

13/ Only a few questions on cross examination. Granier Deferre claims he didn't know if the middlemen had contracts and asked if he knew if Agaev was a middleman for Shell. Says he didn't know. That's the end of the witness testimony for today.

14/ A reminder that the journalistically inclined or just very keen can and a lot of the key case documents are up at shellandenitrial.org. You can also read our reports at globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/o…
Do tweet me any questions about the case and I'll try to answer!