The French investigating judges criticize the French nuclear giant for having undervalued the risk of attacks against the Uranium extraction site in Arlit, in northern Niger, and not to have Implement suitable safety measures.
Le Monde with AFP
The French nuclear giant Areva was indicted on Monday May 30 for “involuntary injuries” in the investigation carried out in Paris on the kidnapping in 2010 of five French in Niger, claimed by the Al-Qaida organization Islamic Maghreb (Aqmi), learned the France-Presse agency and Le Parisien , Thursday.
The French investigating judges criticize AREVA – which has become Orano – for having undervalued the risk of AQMI attacks against the Uranium extraction site in Arlit, in northern Niger, and not to have implemented the suitable security measures for group employees, its subsidiaries, and its subcontractors.
The magistrate in charge of this judicial information, open to the anti -terrorist pole since 2013, also believes that ERERVA has ignored warnings on the defaults of the protection system and the terrorist threat. The company did not wish to comment on its indictment, said the lawyer for the group, M e Marion Lambert-Barret.
a ransom paid in twice
During the night of September 15 to 16, 2010, five French -Françoise and Daniel Larriabe, Pierre Legrand, Marc Féret and Thierry Dol -, a Malagasy, Jean -Claude Rakotoarilao, and a Togolese, Alex Ahondo, had been removed on The mining site by armed men. After five months of captivity, Françoise Larriabe, sick, had been released with Malagasy and Togolese employees. The other four hostages had been issued on October 29, 2013.
During its interrogation, the group, represented by its legal director, confirmed that Areva and the French BTP group Vinci, one of its subcontractors, had paid a ransom: 12.5 million euros for the release of the first three hostages, then 30 million euros for the four men, according to this same source.
On the other hand, the group refuted any breach in risk management, ensuring that employee protection was a priority, said this source. In Arlit, one of the mining sites of the nuclear giant in Niger, Areva was to ensure the safety of expatriates working for the group, its subsidiaries and its subcontractors, but each entity also had security obligations towards its staff, S ‘The legal director is defended.
Solid security device, but failing implementation according to AREVA
The investigations revealed the lack of protection of the site, where at that time lived around a hundred employees. The Larribe couple was kidnapped in their villa, located in a set of uncluttered dwellings. These places of life were monitored by Tuareg, employed by private companies, unarmed. No alert system or withdrawal base was provided in case of intrusion.
As early as 2008, the defense attaché of the French Embassy had nevertheless alerted to the faulty security of the Arlit site. Audits made after abduction have pointed out breaches. For security, Areva was based on the police station and the arlit gendarmerie, as well as on a battalion of 250 soldiers of the Nigerien army, parked at five kilometers.
During kidnappings, police and gendarmes did not intervene. The security forces arrived an hour and a half after. The investigations revealed the lack of training and equipment of these men. For Areva, the system drawn up was solid, but its implementation was failing, justified the legal director.
To security negligence is added an undervaluation of the risk represented by Aqmi in Niger, according to the investigating judges. Since 2009, Western abductions and threats against French interests have multiplied. “Despite the many warnings brought to the attention of Areva, nothing has been seriously implemented,” deplored M e