News / National
Zanu-PF linked tycoon sues the UK over sanctions
25 Jun 2013 at 18:31hrs | Views
Business tycoon and alleged Zanu-PF ally, John Bredenkamp, has sued the British government for being responsible for putting his name on a list of targeted sanctions against the Robert Mugabe regime, SW Radio reported.
John Bredenkamp, who was until last year listed on the European Union (EU) list of restrictive sanctions, has argued in court papers that the UK Foreign Office unlawfully caused his assets to be frozen as a result of "unsubstantiated" comments made to an ambassador. He was delisted early last year along with many other top Zanu-PF allies and officials.
Bredenkamp, who has previously been accused of bypassing international sanctions in the 1970s for the Ian Smith and then providing this same illicit trade for the Mugabe regime, claims the EU measures placed against him in 2009 were "devastating for his personal and professional reputation" and based on "exceptionally generalised" evidence.
Bredenkamp's lawyers are challenging the UK Government's decision to freeze Bredenkamp's assets and impose a travel ban on him, arguing that the Foreign Office's evidence was "based on entirely unsubstantiated, undocumented and unparticularised comments made orally to the former ambassador of the United Kingdom to Zimbabwe, Dr Andrew Pocock".
According to High Court documents, the Foreign Office privately informed the EU that the businessman had "strong ties" to the Mugabe government and "provided, through his companies, financial and other support to the regime."
Bredenkamp is known as a key collaborator and business associate of many heavyweights in Zanu-PF, including Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. It has also been reported that he was facilitating Zanu-PF's access to arms, despite embargoes and sanctions against the party.
Bredenkamp maintains he is a legitimate businessman and has no connections with the Mugabe regime. His lawyers are arguing that the UK Government produced no evidence to substantiate these kinds of allegations and that Bredenkamp has always "vigorously rejected" claims that he supported Mugabe.
UK based Zimbabwean activist Ephraim Tapa said the case now makes a mockery of the UK and Europe's human rights obligations, arguing that removing Bredenkamp off the sanctions list was equal to saying he had done nothing wrong.
"For him to be removed from the targeted sanctions list in the first place is a mockery of what sanctions were meant to achieve. Nothing has changed in Zimbabwe to warrant his and many others removal off that list," Tapa said.
He criticised the EU decision to relax its sanctions, saying it demonstrates that Europe feels threatened by the amount of business interest shown in Zimbabwe by competitors like China and Russia.
He added: "His (Bredenkamp's) decision to sue the British government serves now to underline the stupid policy the UK has adopted recently towards Zimbabwe, where their policy has shifted from one of human rights to one of profit."
John Bredenkamp, who was until last year listed on the European Union (EU) list of restrictive sanctions, has argued in court papers that the UK Foreign Office unlawfully caused his assets to be frozen as a result of "unsubstantiated" comments made to an ambassador. He was delisted early last year along with many other top Zanu-PF allies and officials.
Bredenkamp, who has previously been accused of bypassing international sanctions in the 1970s for the Ian Smith and then providing this same illicit trade for the Mugabe regime, claims the EU measures placed against him in 2009 were "devastating for his personal and professional reputation" and based on "exceptionally generalised" evidence.
Bredenkamp's lawyers are challenging the UK Government's decision to freeze Bredenkamp's assets and impose a travel ban on him, arguing that the Foreign Office's evidence was "based on entirely unsubstantiated, undocumented and unparticularised comments made orally to the former ambassador of the United Kingdom to Zimbabwe, Dr Andrew Pocock".
According to High Court documents, the Foreign Office privately informed the EU that the businessman had "strong ties" to the Mugabe government and "provided, through his companies, financial and other support to the regime."
Bredenkamp is known as a key collaborator and business associate of many heavyweights in Zanu-PF, including Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. It has also been reported that he was facilitating Zanu-PF's access to arms, despite embargoes and sanctions against the party.
Bredenkamp maintains he is a legitimate businessman and has no connections with the Mugabe regime. His lawyers are arguing that the UK Government produced no evidence to substantiate these kinds of allegations and that Bredenkamp has always "vigorously rejected" claims that he supported Mugabe.
UK based Zimbabwean activist Ephraim Tapa said the case now makes a mockery of the UK and Europe's human rights obligations, arguing that removing Bredenkamp off the sanctions list was equal to saying he had done nothing wrong.
"For him to be removed from the targeted sanctions list in the first place is a mockery of what sanctions were meant to achieve. Nothing has changed in Zimbabwe to warrant his and many others removal off that list," Tapa said.
He criticised the EU decision to relax its sanctions, saying it demonstrates that Europe feels threatened by the amount of business interest shown in Zimbabwe by competitors like China and Russia.
He added: "His (Bredenkamp's) decision to sue the British government serves now to underline the stupid policy the UK has adopted recently towards Zimbabwe, where their policy has shifted from one of human rights to one of profit."
Source - SW Radio
