(1/6) I'm a human rights lawyer who has in house arrest in the U.S. without trial for 18 months after I helped win a $9.5b pollution judgement against Chevron. #FreeSteven
Just before I was arrested, I gave this interview:
(2/6) In 2011, courts in Ecuador found Chevron guilty of a terrible environmental crime —deliberately dumping 16 billion gallons of cancer-causing oil waste into Indigenous ancestral lands in the Amazon. Thousands have died.
Chevron refused to pay the judgment.
(3/6) Instead, Chevron threatened the peoples it poisoned with a "lifetime of litigation" unless they gave up. It also demanded Ecuador's government sell out its own citizens by illegally "dismissing" the judgement.
(4/6) Because I played a key role in winning the case, Chevron launched a massive retaliation campaign against me.
A few months after this interview, I was detained without trial for appealing a demand by Chevron that I turn over my computer and phone to the company.
(5/6) If the Ecuadorians collect the judgment, fossil fuel giants like Chevron will no longer will be able to pollute with impunity. The legal precedent could force some out of business given that getting away with pollution is central to their business model.
(6/6) Please retweet this thread, share the full interview below, and continue to support the Ecuadorian communities and their lawyers. If you can help, please do so at donzigerdefense.com.
We will keep fighting. Justice is within reach. #FreeSteven
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(1/7) A few years ago, a Chevron whistleblower quietly left a package at the @AmazonWatch headquarters with no name or return address. Dozens of DVDs were inside.
(2/7) Just prior, courts in Ecuador had found Chevron guilty of one of the worst environmental crimes in history—deliberately dumping 16 billion gallons of toxic oil waste into Indigenous territories in the Amazon.
(3/7) Ordered by those courts to pay $9.5 billion, Chevron sold its assets and fled the country.