Date of publication: June 6, 2007
Source: Birmingham News
By Russell Hubbard
The Drummond Co. wrongful death trial will proceed as planned on July 9, the judge ruled, quashing an attempt to delay the matter for an extra six months.
U.S. District Judge Karon Bowdre ruled against the slain Colombian labor leaders' lawyers on their request for an extension to interview more witnesses. She granted their request to admit the last-minute testimony of a man described in court papers as the bodyguard of a Drummond executive in Colombia.
Birmingham-based Drummond was sued in federal court in Birmingham in 2002 for the 2001 deaths in Colombia of three leaders who worked at its mine there. The men were shot, and their families and union said in the suit Drummond paid unnamed militia groups to have them killed. Drummond has vigorously denied any involvement with armed groups.
The testimony of bodyguard Isnardo Ropero Gonzalez was allowed under certain conditions. Lawyers for the families and union said in court papers last week he had knowledge of Drummond payments to armed groups that are hostile to labor unions. Bowdre ruled Gonzalez must be deposed by June 22. She wrote that she still hasn't decided if the testimony will be allowed at the trial.
Drummond operates a 25,000-acre surface coal mine in northwest Colombia that produces more than 30 million tons a year, more than the industry produces in the entire state of Alabama. The company began developing the mine in the 1980s.
Colombia has been the scene of civil unrest for decades, wracked by a communist insurgency, a countervailing right-wing militia movement, and drug trafficking.
A recent amnesty for militia leaders has prompted a new openness, with testimony in Colombia from some that that they took money from foreign corporations in return for armed protection. The families and Colombian union argued last week that important new evidence might emerge from such revelations, and that the trial should be delayed to account for the fresh developments.
Bowdre ruled that the trial has already been delayed, that the union and families have had plenty of time to prepare, and that another postponement would be unfair to Drummond.