20th Feb 2008 16:07
Carnegie Minerals plc20 February 2008 20th February 2008 British engineer faces Gambia "economic crimes" trial A 48 year old British man face charges of "economic crimes" before the HighCourt in Gambia tomorrow. Charlie Northfield, a mining engineer from Plymouth, is accused of economiccrimes, along with his employer British mining company, Carnegie Minerals. The arrest follows the statement by the Gambia government that Silicon andUranium have been discovered in the country and that it believes the countrycould become the next Silicon Valley. Silicon is, in fact sand, and uranium ispresent only at trace, not commercial levels in the country, as it is in mostsoils. Charlie's family in Plymouth are extremely worried about his situation. Theyare being updated by the High Commissioner in Gambia but are concerned about hishealth and wellbeing. His brother, Phil, says Charlie is the last person youwould expect to be held prisoner in Africa: "Charlie is a down-to-earth, ordinary family man. He's a terrific dad to histhree kids. They, like their mum, are extremely anxious about what's happenedand are worried about how long Charlie will be kept in Africa. All we want isfor Charlie to be allowed to come home. It's clear there absolutely no way he'sdone anything wrong." Charlie joined Carnegie on October 26th to become the manager of its licensedmine in Gambia. On 15th January, Carnegie received a letter from thePresident's office instructing it to cease operations. Such was the tone ofthe letter that the company immediately withdrew all of its personnel from thecountry. The company has provided all information requested and its position has beenindependently verified by SGS, a leading independent testing and inspectionorganisation. On 4th February, Gambia's Attorney General and Secretary Generalwere sent to London to meet the company's Chief Executive. At that meeting theofficials gave assurances that Gambia wanted operations to be restarted and thatthere was no risk to the safety and freedom of Carnegie's staff. Because ofthese assurances, Carnegie allowed Charlie to travel to Gambia to start planningthe restarting of operations. Shortly after his return, Charlie was arrested and thrown in gaol. Bail was seton a Friday evening, too late for it to be raised, at US$250,000 and with suretyof two US$100,000 properties owned by Gambian nationals. Efforts are ongoing totransfer bail funds to Gambia. Charlie is still in gaol in the country awaitinghis first court appearance. Alan Hopkins commented: "We were duped into allowing Charlie to return to the country. They now seemintent on a swift trial. We call on all governments with relationships withGambia, and on all travel operators which take Britons to the country, to takeheed of this situation: Gambia may seem a perfectly safe country but your assetsand people could be at risk." ends For further information, contact: Jonathan Hawker, FD International +44 20 7269 7232 +44 7979 907 000 Bill Clegg, FD International +44 20 7269 7157 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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