US chemical companies sued by an Agent Orange victim living in Franceare trying to delay the lawsuit’s progress by questioning the accuracyof documents submitted by the plaintiff.
Bertrand Repolt, who represented the plaintiff’s team of lawyers at thelatest court hearing on the lawsuit at the Ervy Court in France, saidthe lawyers of 26 US companies demanded clear evidence for the documentsattached to the petition.
According to Repolt,this is a tactic aimed at delaying the process and tiring theplaintiff’s side out, which is worrying as the health of the 73-year-oldplaintiff is deteriorating due to many diseases she acquired as aconsequence of exposure to Agent Orange/dioxin.
The lawyer noted that whether the evidence is persuasive will bediscussed during the trial, when lawyers of both side present theirarguments. Therefore, the demand that detailed evidence be included inthe petition is made just with the intention of delaying the hearingprocess, he said.
Speaking to the media outsidethe courtroom, plaintiff Tran To Nga said she filed the lawsuit not forher own interest but for other Vietnamese victims of AgentOrange/dioxin who are suffering from the after-effects of the toxicchemical without the means for treatment. She affirmed her resolve topursue the lawsuit despite all the difficulties.
Nicolas Jaillard from France Television said he has been following the case, which was reported on France 24 channel.
Two independent film makers from the US, Sylvie Jacquemin and MilenaDoleno said they are working on a film about the lawsuit for theNew-York-based Films for Humanity.
In May 2014,Vietnamese-French Tran Thi To Nga, born in 1942, filed a lawsuitagainst 26 US chemical firms for producing chemical toxins sprayed bythe US army in the war in Vietnam, causing serious consequences for thecommunity, her and her children.
Tran To Ngagraduated from a Hanoi university in 1966 and became a war correspondentof the Liberation News Agency. She worked in some of the most heavilyAO/Dioxin affected areas in southern Vietnam such as Cu Chi, Ben Cat andalong the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ultimately experiencing effects ofcontamination.
Among her threechildren, the first child died of heart defects while the secondsuffered from a blood disease.
In 2009, Nga, who contracted a number of acute diseases, appeared as awitness at the Court of Public Opinion in Paris, France against USchemical companies.
The complaint and related documents were handed over to the Crown Court of Evry city in the suburb of Paris.
From 1961-1971, US troops sprayed more than 80 million litres ofherbicides—44 million litres of which were AO containing nearly 370kilograms of dioxin—over southern Vietnam.
As a result, around 4.8 million Vietnamese were exposed to thetoxic chemical. Many of the victims have died, while millions of theirdescendants are living with deformities and diseases as a direct resultof the chemical’s effects.-VNA
Bertrand Repolt, who represented the plaintiff’s team of lawyers at thelatest court hearing on the lawsuit at the Ervy Court in France, saidthe lawyers of 26 US companies demanded clear evidence for the documentsattached to the petition.
According to Repolt,this is a tactic aimed at delaying the process and tiring theplaintiff’s side out, which is worrying as the health of the 73-year-oldplaintiff is deteriorating due to many diseases she acquired as aconsequence of exposure to Agent Orange/dioxin.
The lawyer noted that whether the evidence is persuasive will bediscussed during the trial, when lawyers of both side present theirarguments. Therefore, the demand that detailed evidence be included inthe petition is made just with the intention of delaying the hearingprocess, he said.
Speaking to the media outsidethe courtroom, plaintiff Tran To Nga said she filed the lawsuit not forher own interest but for other Vietnamese victims of AgentOrange/dioxin who are suffering from the after-effects of the toxicchemical without the means for treatment. She affirmed her resolve topursue the lawsuit despite all the difficulties.
Nicolas Jaillard from France Television said he has been following the case, which was reported on France 24 channel.
Two independent film makers from the US, Sylvie Jacquemin and MilenaDoleno said they are working on a film about the lawsuit for theNew-York-based Films for Humanity.
In May 2014,Vietnamese-French Tran Thi To Nga, born in 1942, filed a lawsuitagainst 26 US chemical firms for producing chemical toxins sprayed bythe US army in the war in Vietnam, causing serious consequences for thecommunity, her and her children.
Tran To Ngagraduated from a Hanoi university in 1966 and became a war correspondentof the Liberation News Agency. She worked in some of the most heavilyAO/Dioxin affected areas in southern Vietnam such as Cu Chi, Ben Cat andalong the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ultimately experiencing effects ofcontamination.
Among her threechildren, the first child died of heart defects while the secondsuffered from a blood disease.
In 2009, Nga, who contracted a number of acute diseases, appeared as awitness at the Court of Public Opinion in Paris, France against USchemical companies.
The complaint and related documents were handed over to the Crown Court of Evry city in the suburb of Paris.
From 1961-1971, US troops sprayed more than 80 million litres ofherbicides—44 million litres of which were AO containing nearly 370kilograms of dioxin—over southern Vietnam.
As a result, around 4.8 million Vietnamese were exposed to thetoxic chemical. Many of the victims have died, while millions of theirdescendants are living with deformities and diseases as a direct resultof the chemical’s effects.-VNA
