Dispossessed white farmers lay claim to diamond money

A group of dispossessed white farmers from Zimbabwe is laying claim to 45 million US dollars’ worth of diamond revenue.

Now the 12 Dutch farmers have appealed to the European Court for them to be allowed to take the money.

The farmers appear to be part of a group that won a case against President Robert Mugabe’s government at the International Court for the Settlement of Investments Disputes in Washington in 2009.

The farmers now want the European Court to allow them to take the proceeds from the sales of around 500,000 carats of diamonds in Antwerp laying the stage for a protracted legal battle.

The Sunday Mail quotes Zimbabwe diamond officials saying this latest bid to seize Zimbabwe’s diamond money is a disaster.

South Africa’s Amari Platinum tried to seize diamond profits in Antwerp two weeks ago however a Belgium court ruled in favour of the Zimbabwean authorities.

Diamond Mining Company’s chief Ramzi Malik says this shows that Zimbabwe should sell its diamonds at home and not in foreign markets like Dubai and Antwerp. Eye Witness News