By Celsias
Posted on Nov. 14, 2011. Listed in:
A French court has convicted the French state electricity company, Electricité de France SA (EDF), on charges of spying on Greenpeace in France. The company was fined $2 million, and ordered to pay $650,000 in damages to Greenpeace for non-material losses
A court near Paris said Thursday that EDF paid security firm Kargus to spy on Greenpeace. Greenpeace was planning to run a campaign against nuclear reactors under construction on the Normandy coast. Remember Greenpeace, and remember our very own Solid Energy using a firm to spy on people who opposed their mining on the West Coast ? Well, it seems it's pretty universal.
Tom Burke, a professor at Imperial and University Colleges in London and former director of the British Friends of Earth, told the BBC
"What this judgment reveals is that EDF, and the French government which owns it, are prepared to go to any lengths, including breaking the law, in order to defeat opposition to more nuclear power," he was quoted as saying.
Many European governments have been rethinking nuclear since the Fukushima meltdown. Germany has decided to decommission all nuclear. Italians voted not to go nuclear at their recent referendum on the subject and others around the world are rethinking their reliance on nuclear.
EDF is the second largest French utility company.It is one of the world's largest producers of electricity.Until November 19, 2004, EDF was a state-owned corporation, but it is now a limited-liability company after the Government did a partial sell down of shares in 2005.
