[Intl-tobacco] BAT lawyer ordered to testify in DOJ lawsuit

[robert.weissman@essentialinformation.org]

> Tobacco case: Sydney man called
>
> May 18, 2004
> News Interactive (Australia)
>
> A SYDNEY man flagged as a key witness in a $385 billion US lawsuit against
> the tobacco industry must give evidence in the landmark case, the NSW
> Court of Appeal ruled today.
>
> Nicholas Basil Cannar was the former head of the UK legal department of
> British American Tobacco (BATCo), the world's second largest cigarette
> maker.
> The United States Justice Department is leading a mammoth court case
> against BATCo and four other tobacco companies, claiming they conspired to
> deceive consumers into smoking and concealed their knowledge of the health
> risks.
> Treating tobacco-related illness costs the US government more than $US20
> billion ($29.28 billion) a year, it says.
> US authorities allege Mr Cannar directed the destruction of sensitive
> company documents in the UK, Australia and elsewhere.
> In 2002 the US District Court wrote to the NSW Supreme Court, requesting
> its assistance in obtaining a deposition from Mr Cannar for the upcoming
> case.
> "The United States alleges that Mr Cannar's responsibilities included
> devising and implementing document management policies for BATCo in the
> UK, and also for the implementation of BATCo's worldwide document
> management, retention and destruction policies," the letter said.
> Justice Virginia Bell last October upheld a decision made by fellow NSW
> Supreme Court Justice Greg James that Mr Cannar should give evidence.
> Mr Cannar appealed against the ruling but it was unanimously dismissed
> today by Chief Justice Jim Spigelman and Justices Ken Handley and John
> Bryson.
> Mr Cannar, who lives in the northern Sydney suburb of Lane Cove, must now
> give evidence before a NSW Supreme Court judge about his role in managing
> BATCo's documents and what information was destroyed.
> Videotapes and transcripts of his evidence will then be forwarded to US
> legal authorities.