Trafigura, the Swiss-based multinational whose chartered ship dumped toxic waste alleged to have killed 17 people in the Ivory Coast in 2006 goes on trial in Amsterdam on Tuesday along with the boat's captain and four others.

This will be Trafigura's first court appearance for the events, which saw the Probo Koala and its cargo of caustic soda and petroleum residues refused entry to the Port of Amsterdam and redirected to the Ivorian port of Abidjan.
  
Also on trial accused of breaking Dutch environment laws will be a former Trafigura employee; the captain of the Probo Koala; the city of Amsterdam as port administrator; waste treatment company Amsterdam Port Services (APS); and its former managing director Evert Uittenbosch.
  
Multi-million euro settlement
Trafigura denies a link between the waste and any casualties, but reached an out-of-court damages settlement with the Ivory Coast government in February 2007 for 100 billion CFA francs (152 million euros).
  
That settlement exempted it from legal proceedings in that country.
  
A court case in Great Britain was dropped after a 33 million euro settlement on behalf of 31,000 plaintiffs was reached in September last year on the basis of an independent experts' report.
  
That report found no link between the waste and the 17 deaths and thousands of poisoning cases claimed by Ivory Coast lawyers.
  
"Strong evidence"
But a United Nations report published last September found "strong" evidence linking at least 15 deaths and several hospitalisations to the 528 cubic metres of "slops" dumped on Abidjan city waste tips.
  
Trafigura is to be tried in the Amsterdam district court for breaking Dutch waste export and environment laws and for forging official documents. If convicted, it faces a fine of up to 1.34 million euros.
  
"Trafigura knew the waste could be injurious to health or the environment, but did not say anything," said prosecution spokeswoman Esther Schreur.
  

The waste, made up of slops from the cleaning of its fuel transport tanks, was pumped back into the ship after APS demanded a higher price for  treatment when it turned out to be more toxic than previously thought.
Trafigura, which declined to pay the higher price, denies it asked the captain to lie about the waste.
  
The city of Amsterdam, APS and Evert Uittenbosch, who could potentially be jailed for six years, are charged with failing to prevent the export of dangerous waste.

The trial is expected to last five weeks.

Source: AFP