Arjan Court Case

by Rony BRAUMAN
Former president of MSF-France
Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris

Geneva, July 14, 2008 – The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is shocked by the judgment rendered today by Switzerland's highest judicial body, the Federal Tribunal, which rejected the arguments of MSF in a kidnapping ransom case.

Geneva, May 27, 2008 — The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) denounces the relentless attitude of the Dutch government, which has pursued the organization in courts since July 2004. The Netherlands demands that MSF reimburse the government for ransom paid to free Dutch citizen Arjan Erkel, MSF head of mission who was held hostage for 600 days in the northern Caucasus and was released in April, 2004.

Geneva, February 27, 2008 — The Court of Justice of Geneva returned a verdict today in favor of Doctors Without Border/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in a three-year-long legal case brought against MSF by the Dutch government. The Court of Justice of Geneva unequivocally rejected the appeal submitted by the State of the Netherlands against the verdict of the Court of First Instance, which had already dismissed all of the Dutch Government’s claims on March 15, 2007.

MSF refuses to reimburse a payment negotiated and paid by the Dutch government for the release of Arjan Erkel. Arjan Erkel is a Dutch citizen and MSF humanitarian aid worker who was abducted on August 12, 2002 in Dagestan and released on April 11, 2004 after 20 months in captivity.