| In Sudan
Case BNP Paribas Was Sued in 2016 In
Closing Argues that the UN Said It Was OK
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Oct 16 – BNP Paribas was sued,
and raised as part of its
defense the laws of
Switzerland and of
Sudan.
On November
5, 2020 U.S. then-District
Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge
Alison J. Nathan held an oral
argument. Inner City Press
covered it.
The case
involves BNP violating Sudan
sanctions, and the mass
killing of civilians in Darfur
and elsewhere by the then Omar
al Bashir government, for
which BNP claims to bear no
responsibility.
Jump cut to
September 16, 2025, when Inner
City Press covers the trial as
a former compliance officer
was asked about blocked
transactions resubmitted
without the word Sudan and
passing; and a CNN journalist
testified about El Fasher,
where Inner City Press
reported on UN corruption
until it was (and still is)
banned.
On September
18, the plaintiffs'
witness was a refugee from
Sudan Plaintiffs' lawyer: Are
you now a US citizen? Witness:
Yes Plaintiff's lawyer: Did
you grow up in Wow or
somewhere else? A: Kordofan
Plaintiffs'
lawyer: When they came for
you, were they armed? Witness:
Yes, with AK-47. As a Sudanese
judge, I was supposed to have
immunity. Plaintiffs' lawyer:
Where did they take you?
Witness: To Woau. To the
headquarters. They started
beating me (sobs)
On September 22,
an expert formerly at the
Federal Reserve Bank of New
York testified over multiple
objections that BNP did $10
billion of unauthorized
transactions with Sudan.
On October 1,
BNP's lawyers argued their
Rule 5 motions, emphasizing
violence and harm in Sudan as
unrelated to oil revenue and
their sanctions violations;
Inner City Press live tweeted
here.
On October 16 the
closings, in which BNP's
lawyer said among other things
that BNP thought things were
getting better in Sudan
because the UN was there, and
the IMF. Thread.
More on X for
Subscribers here
and Substack here
Verdict then book
coming...
Inner City
Press will continue to cover
the trial- and the country.
The case is
Kashef et al v. BNP Paribas SA
et al., 1:16-cv-3228
(Hellerstein)
***
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