War and oil: Lundin in the dock

Special focus 18 publications
A movie with Leonardo DiCaprio has made popular the words ‘blood diamond’. Here, blood oil is at the heart of the longest trial in Swedish history, which opened in September 2023 and is due to end in May 2026. Two men in white collars are in the dock: Ian Lundin and Alexandre Schneiter. Two senior executives of Lundin Oil, accused of complicity in war crimes between 1999 and 2003 in a region that has become a country, Southern Sudan. Justice Info has been covering from its very beginning this unique trial, a symbol of the often explosive mix of war, oil and multinationals.
Illustration: © Gaspard Njock pour Justice Info
At the Lundin trial in Sweden, two former executives of the oil company are on trial for alleged complicity in war crimes committed in Sudan. Illustration: Ian Lundin and Alexandre Schneiter are drowned in a pool of oil. Conflict rages in the background.
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Egbert Wesselink is often considered to be behind the Lundin trial in Sweden. In a report by the Dutch NGO Pax, he revealed the links between the Swedish company Lundin Oil (and 2 other oil companies) and war crimes committed in Sudan between 1990 and 2000.
Lundin: Wesselink and the dilemma of proof
22 May 2025 by Martin Schibbye
The trial against Lundin reveals not just the brutality of war, but also the fragility of justice mechanisms built on activism. The role of Egbert Wesselink, the director of the NGO PAX, is emblematic of this broader dilemma.
Threats and intimidation at the Lundin trial in Sweden. Photo: George Tai, a witness, tells his story in Juba (Southern Sudan). Threats and intimidation in the Lundin trial
3 April 2025 by Martin Schibbye
Witnesses in the trial of former Lundin Oil executives are alleged to have been the victims of a campaign of threats, intimidation and bribes. New revelations have reopened an investigation into obstruction of justice.
Alexandre Schneiter, former CEO of Lundin Oil, gives his side of the story at his trial in Sweden on charges of complicity in war crimes committed in Sudan. Photo: Schneiter in a video interview for Bloomberg. “I was responsible for what was beneath the surface – not above”
24 March 2025 by Martin Schibbye
At the trial in Sweden of the former executives of Lundin Oil on charges of complicity in war crimes, ex-CEO Alexandre Schneiter explained that he was responsible for drilling, not for security or operational activities.
A Swedish documentary film shows Ian Lundin in Sudan surrounded by armed child soldiers. The footage was used in the trial of Swedish company Lundin Oil in Sweden. How Lundin’s filmed trip in Sudan backfired in court
6 February 2025 by Martin Schibbye
This Tuesday February 4, Alexandre Schneiter’s interrogation has started in Stockholm, where two former directors of the Swedish oil company Lundin are tried for complicity in war crimes in Sudan. Before him, until last week, his [...]
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Ian Lundin, former chairman of the Swedish oil company Lundin Oil, speaks to the press during his trial in Sweden for alleged complicity in war crimes commited in Sudan.
10 January 2025 by Olivier Truc
Ian Lundin finally speaks In a Stockholm trial that started in September 2023, two directors of Swedish oil company Lundin Oil are charged with complicity in war crimes committed in Sudan between 1997 and 2003. Answering questions, company chairman Ian Lun [...]
Lundin trial in Sweden - Photo: the defendants and their defence team wait in a corridor near courtroom 34.
1 October 2024 by Olivier Truc
Lundin trial: “How can they believe those reports?” Now the voice of South Sudanese victims is being heard in the big Swedish trial for complicity in war crimes that opened a year ago against two top bosses of the Lundin oil group. The parade of 32 witnesses, which began at the end [...]
Lundin trial in Sweden - Photo: soldiers of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) train. A man brandishes a weapon and a fist.
4 June 2024 by Olivier Truc
Lundin trial: the prosecutor counter-attacks In Stockholm, the trial of Lundin oil company executives accused of complicity in war crimes in Sudan between 1997 and 2003 is now giving the stand to witnesses. But before that, the prosecutor, under fire from the defence for the [...]
Martin Schibbye is a journalist, one of the few covering the Lundin trial in Sweden. Photo: Schibbye stands alone at the entrance to courtroom 34 in Stockholm.
15 March 2024 by Olivier Truc
Martin Schibbye (journalist): “Sweden believed in Lundin” Six months have passed since the start of the longest trial in Swedish history, which will last another two years. Time for a first assessment by one of its most assiduous observers, Martin Schibbye, who spent 438 days of his life [...]
Alex Schneiter and Ian Lundin are on trial in Sweden for alleged complicity in war crimes in Sudan. Their lawyers are seeking to undermine the prosecution's case (sources and investigation). Courtroom drawing.
27 February 2024 by Olivier Truc
Lundin trial: defence attacks prosecution probe It's the turn of lawyers for the second defendant, Swiss citizen Alexandre Schneiter, to present their arguments in the Lundin trial in Sweden. The defence of the former oil company CEO, prosecuted as an accessory to war crimes, c [...]
Lundin trial in Sweden - Ian Lundin arrives in court on the opening day of the trial in Stockholm. He is suspected of complicity in war crimes in Southern Sudan.
8 December 2023 by Olivier Truc
Lundin, the trial that “should never have taken place” The Lundin trial has now reached the end of its thirteenth week, with 90 weeks still to go. Torgny Wetterberg, defending Ian Lundin, on November 29 began his presentation of the facts. His client is one of the two directors of Swe [...]
Magnus Elving is the Swedish prosecutor who prosecuted the Lundin multinational for complicity in war crimes in South Sudan.
10 October 2023 by Olivier Truc
The Swedish prosecutor who challenged Lundin Oil It was prosecutor Magnus Elving who opened the probe into Swedish oil company Lundin, accused of complicity in war crimes in southern Sudan. He is now retired and following from a distance the trial that opened in Stockholm on Sep [...]
Lundin - The trial in Sweden is scheduled to last until 2026.
21 September 2023 by Olivier Truc
Lundin: serious, intimate, Sweden's longest trial sets up for the long haul A sparse audience settled in to listen to prosecutors accuse - over 22 days - two big business bosses, in a trial due to end on February 19, 2026. On the seventh day, the prosecutor showed reports in the Stockholm courthouse of po [...]
The Lundin trial could worry multinationals - Bubbles in an oil puddle in Sudan.
5 September 2023 by Thierry Cruvellier
Lundin trial: "a strong signal to business" Two top executives of a Western oil company are going on trial for complicity in war crimes. The start of the Lundin trial in Sweden on September 5 moves criminal responsibility for bosses of multinationals "from a theoretical rea [...]
Lundin trial in Sweden: when oil and war crimes mix in Sudan.
4 September 2023 by Lena Bjurström
Oil and war crimes in Sudan: Lundin trial opens in Sweden The long-awaited trial of two former executives of Swedish oil company Lundin begins in Stockholm on September 5. Alex Schneiter and Ian Lundin are charged with complicity in war crimes committed over 20 years ago in what is now S [...]
Oil pump
1 September 2023 by Asymmetrical Haircuts
The Lundin moment Sweden is putting on trial two former chief executives of the oil company Lundin for their alleged complicity in war crimes in Sudan. Facts date back to more than 20 years when the Swedish oil company secured a production site and [...]
A soldier stands guard outside an oil refinery
29 November 2021 by Lena Bjurström
Oil and war crimes: Swedish justice in the front line On November 11, the president and former director of the Lundin Energy company were indicted for complicity in war crimes. The charges relate to attacks carried out against civilians between 1999 and 2003 in an area of the future [...]
Oil refineries in desert (Sudan)
25 November 2021 by Asymmetrical Haircuts
Lundin in Swedish court pipeline for war crimes Last week, Sweden indicted two oil executives from Swedish oil company Lundin Energy for aiding and abetting war crimes in South Sudan between 1999 and 2003. If the trial starts next year as expected, it will be a very important m [...]
Lundin
26 October 2018 by Julia Crawford
Lundin faces prosecution for Sudan oil war abuses Sweden’s government has given the green light for the Public Prosecutor to charge two top executives of the Stockholm-based Lundin Petroleum company for assisting suspected crimes against humanity in Sudan between 1997 and 2003 by [...]