A major criminal case for breaching EU sanctions may be put on hold for many months. This has emerged in the Court in Odense, where two companies in Middelfart are accused of having sent aircraft fuel worth 648 million DKK to the war in Syria.
The defendants are the company Dan-Bunkering and its parent company Bunker Holding. In addition, a manager has been indicted. They are said to have sold enormous quantities to a Russian company.
The reason for a possible major delay in the case is that the court must decide whether the case should be postponed due to a referral of an EU law issue to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The two prosecutors and the three defense attorneys are to present their submissions on whether or not to refer the case in the coming week. At that time, the evidence will be over.
Court President Jens Lind mentioned on Tuesday morning that a procedure will be held on 24 November. Later, a prosecutor from the Bagmandspolitiet stated that it was a matter of submission to the European Court of Justice.
The subject had already been raised during a previous court hearing by lawyer Jacob Skude Rasmussen, who is defending Dan-Bunkering.
He said that one of the main legal issues in the case is whether the EU regulation even covers foreign governments and foreign military. In this case, Russia and the Russian military.
The EU regulation prohibits all trade in aircraft fuel to Syria. In the criminal case, the Danish companies' customer was Sovfracht, which is the general agent for the Russian navy. The trade continued at one point in the company Maritime Assistance, which was staffed by people from Sovfracht, it has emerged.
The business became enormous. A total of 172,000 tons were sent to Syria, the prosecution claims.
Dan-Bunkering received an order from the Russians and then arranged for the purchase and delivery. The product was loaded in or near Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Malta. The case began on October 26.
Ritzau
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