TotalEnergies denounced in France for complicity in war crimes in Ukraine

A human rights group has filed a complaint in Paris for

against

, accused of having continued to exploit a deposit in

and allowed the manufacture of the fuel that would ultimately be used by the Russian planes involved in the

, which the group questions.

The complaint was filed this Thursday before the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office, competent

, by the Bordeaux-based association

, which works for the protection of human rights and the defense of populations affected by industrial depredation. , and the Ukrainian Association

, which calls for an embargo on imports of fossil fuels from

.

The French energy giant describes the accusations as "scandalous", "defamatory" and "unfounded", in response to AFP.

The complaint, to which Afp has had access, recalls that

owned until September 49% of the

joint venture , which exploits the

field , in the Russian Far North.

The remaining 51% was in the hands of the Russian group

, number two in Russian gas, of which

is also a 19.4% shareholder.

However, according to an article in

published on August 24, based on various documents and an investigation by the NGO

, the

gas field supplied gas condensate to a refinery near

,

, which produced the fuel that powers Russian planes participating in the

until at least last July.

Following the publication of the article in

, the French energy giant, already criticized for remaining in Russia, claimed that it did not produce "kerosene for the Russian army".

Two days later, he indicated that he had agreed on July 18 to sell his 49% stake in

to

.

This sale was completed in September.

Air strikes

According to the plaintiffs, "by continuing to exploit the

deposit " after the Russian invasion of

, which began on February 24,

"has contributed to providing the Russian government with the necessary means to

" in this country .

, where the Russian army has notably launched airstrikes against civilians.

"The fuel, essential for military air operations, was therefore used indirectly by

to carry out bombings against the civilian population, which caused the death of at least 5,587 people and injured 7,890," the complainants estimate.

The latter also believe that

could not ignore the strong ties of influence between

and the Russian regime: the oligarch

, a close friend of

, had to leave the group's board of directors in March, as a consequence of European sanctions. .

, CEO of

, is subject to British sanctions.

"

categorically refutes all the unfounded accusations of

, published by the newspaper

last August", recalls the group this Friday, and affirms that the unstable condensates produced by

have been "exported abroad" and therefore they could not be used by the Russian military as fuel for their planes.

"To be

is to provide direct aid to a State or a criminal organization that is the perpetrator of the crimes," estimates

.

"These accusations are an insult to the integrity of our teams."

For its part, the complaint highlights "the legal evolution of the concept of complicity, coming to consider that the main private (and public) actors can be prosecuted (...) even if it is not proven that they share the design of the main author", in this case the Russian army.

"Justice will no longer remain blind to the indirect but essential contribution that multinationals make to the war effort or to the considerable profits that multinationals continue to obtain after the invasion of

", comment, for their part, the lawyers of the associations,

,

, and

.

"France cannot condemn the invasion while remaining inactive in the face of the behavior that supports it," they add.

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