Dutch oil company Llanos Oil demands before a Dutch court the seizure of the home of Colombia’s ambassador in The Hague.
The company is owned by Henk van Bilderbeek, a Dutch oil engineer currently serving a twenty years sentence in Colombia for laundering drug money and being part of an international
criminal organization.
Van Bilderbeek’s lawyer claims the Dutchman was set up by Colombian oil company Ecopetrol and the Colombian Government and demands 7 billion euro (US$9 billion) compensation.
In December 2008, the court already allowed Llanos oil to seize all Dutch assets of Ecopetrol.
The seizure of embassy buildings is unusual, because according to the Geneva convention they are immune. According to the Dutchman’s lawyer, Ferry van Schoonhoven, chances of winning the case are not slim.
“I did it before. In 2006, we seized the building of the embassy of Kenya, which was unique in the world. If the court decides we can seize the embassy it would be a signal to all crooked states,” the attorney told Dutch press agency ANP.
The court hearings start Thursday.