Witnesses in the Lundin case have been subjected to hundreds of attempts to influence their testimony. This includes, among other things, contact attempts, bribes, threats, and gross violence, according to Cold Facts.
In the Lundin trial, which has been tried in the Stockholm District Court since 2023, two former representatives of the Swedish company are charged with aiding and abetting gross war crimes in southern Sudan between 1999 and 2003.
Most of the pressure attempts are said to have taken place in 2017 and 2018. Witnesses tell TV4 about mysterious deaths and a rape, which they link to their refusal to change sides.
According to Cold Facts, two representatives of Lundin Oil were present in Sudan and South Sudan during that period, with the intention of seeking out witnesses.
Mysterious deaths
Journalists obtained documents through a source that show that a man identified as responsible for carrying out the pressure attempts worked for Lundin consultants.
The documents show that he, among other things, arranged a trip for a witness to Sudan's capital Khartoum. There, the witness was run over and died under mysterious circumstances.
The identified man denies that anyone was harmed in connection with his assignment for the company.
Six of them (witnesses) died a natural death in Khartoum, he says.
Warned – continued anyway
The documents further show that Lundin consultants paid a man to spy on witnesses hiding in Uganda. However, there is no evidence that Lundin representatives gave orders to threaten or use violence against witnesses.
It emerges, however, that people in Lundin Oil's management were repeatedly informed that the work led to witnesses receiving serious threats. Despite this, the management decided that the consultants' assignment would continue, according to Cold Facts.
Representatives of Lundin Oil, now operating under the name Orreon Energy, have not wanted to be interviewed. In a written statement to TV4, the company's communications manager states that they "categorically and firmly" reject all allegations.
A preliminary investigation into improper influence on the judiciary regarding the Lundin case was reopened in 2024. No one has yet been suspected of a crime in that investigation. Such an investigation was initiated earlier, but was discontinued due to lack of evidence.
The trial in the Stockholm District Court began in September 2023 and is expected to continue until February 2026. It is thus the longest main hearing that has been held in Sweden.
In the case, Ian Lundin and Alex Schneiter, former representatives of Lundin Oil, are charged with aiding and abetting gross war crimes in southern Sudan between 1999 and 2003, when the Swedish company was operating in the war-torn country.
According to the indictment, they had knowledge of and contributed to the military and regime-loyal militia killing and displacing people to create conditions for Lundin Oil's oil prospecting in an area that had long been controlled by rebels.
Lundin and Schneiter have denied the allegations and claim that the indictment is based on a long series of factual errors. In addition to denying complicity, they deny that the type of war crime alleged in the indictment took place.
