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Medecins Sans Frontieres to pay for aid worker release

by rahul | July 14, 2008 at 07:27 am

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A court order was issued to have Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) pay US$428,000 to the Dutch government. Payment is due in a dispute over ransom paid to liberate a Dutch aid worker Arjan Erkel from captivity in the Russian republic of Dagestan. MSF has rejected payment.

Swiss court orders MSF to pay Netherlands for aid worker release

2008-07-14 13:57:08 -

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) - Switzerland's highest court has ordered doctors' group Medecins Sans Frontieres to pay ¤270,000 (US$428,000) to the Dutch government in a dispute over ransom paid to free an aid worker.The case concerned Netherlands' ¤1 million payment in 2004 to free aid worker Arjan Erkel from unknown gunmen in the volatile Russian republic of Dagestan. Erkel is a Dutch citizen who worked for the group, also known as Doctors Without Borders. The Federal Tribunal on Monday overturned a Geneva court ruling rejecting the Dutch claim for reimbursement. MSF had denied any prior agreement with the government to pay back the ransom. The court also denied MSF's claim to recoup ¤230,000 (US$350,000) from the Dutch government that it put up for the ransom.

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