Elite London firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is set to be put on a high profile human rights group’s ‘dirty list’ of firms connected to business interests in Burma — one of the first times a major legal adviser has been targeted for aiding controversial projects or regimes.
The UK-based Burma Campaign, which is backed by a number of high level British patrons, told Legal Week Global that Freshfields would be added to the list along with its client, Malaysian state oil company Petronas.
Freshfields is advising Petronas on a deal that will see the company acquire Premier Oil’s interest in the controversial Yetagun oil project in Burma.
The UK-based Premier, which is advised by top London firm Slaughter and May, has said the disposal of its Burmese interests is part of a bid to increase shareholder value.
However, the Burma Campaign claims that its role in highlighting human rights abuses in Burma has driven Premier to offload the project.
The Burmese Government has been accused by the United Nations-backed International Labour Organisation of using forced labour on its major projects. The Burma Campaign claims that the country’s military dictatorship has put more than eight million people, including children, into forced labour.
London-based Freshfields partner Jonathan Rees, who is working on the Yetagun deal, said he would not make any comment on the matter, other than to say that Petronas had been in Burma for “some time”.
Other companies set to be included on the list include PricewaterhouseCoopers and UK tour operator Kuoni Travel.
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UK’s Freshfields faces human rights ‘dirty list’
Published: 15/10/2002 00:00
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