...mighty spoof banner dropped from Waterloo Bridge...campaigning shareholders excluded...possession of scissors an arrestable offence...skeleton samba band...passionate Caspian speakers...rockin sound system...Channel 4 news...meeting disrupted...next stop an 'Exhibiion of Resistance to BP & Big Oil at BP-sponsored National Portrait Award', June 15-21st 2004...
PRESS RELEASE FROM:
Baku-Ceyhan Campaign
PLATFORM
Corner House
Friends of the Earth
Kurdish Human Rights Project
For immediate release 15 April 2004
BP Unprecedentedly Excludes Shareholders from Annual General Meeting
BP shareholders expressed outrage today as oil giant BP refused to allow
them to enter its Annual General Meeting (AGM).
The shareholders had come from Azerbaijan and Georgia to raise their
concerns about the hugely controversial Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
directly with the BP Board of Directors.
But BP - in a move never seen before at a British company's AGM - refused
them entry, citing "security" concerns. This was despite the fact that the
shareholders
had agreed to cooperate with security measures.
One of the shareholders, Mirvari Gahramanli, is Chair of the Committee for
Protection of Oil Workers' Rights in Azerbaijan. She has insisted that BP
immediately reinstate workers who have been sacked for complaining about
their working conditions, and stop discriminating against Azeri people.
Gahrahmanli noted, "The pipeline is being implemented in Azerbaijan without
any respect for human rights or national laws. BP must start to behave
responsibly, and compensate landowners for the land they have lost. And
they should treat Azeri workers in the same way they treat British and
American workers."
Mayis Gulaliyev, of the Monitoring Group for the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey
Pipelines System, added, "In Azerbaijan, we are given no information and BP
ignores us - it only talks to organisations that unconditionally support the
pipeline. So we came from Azerbaijan, as shareholders in BP, to raise our
concerns about the pipeline. But here too BP has excluded us."
Mina Dadalauri, of Georgian group Green Alternatives, said, "Coming from the
situation in Georgia, where BP is preparing to build a pipeline through a
protected national park territory, I came to vote for the resolution to stop
BP from damaging the important territory. BP risks its reputation along
with our natural environment. But I was denied the chance to vote."
Greg Muttitt, of the environment group PLATFORM which is co-hosting the
shareholders, commented, "This is a completely unreasonable - and probably
illegal - move. UK company law requires companies to allow their
shareholders into an Annual General Meeting, as a key opportunity for them
to address the Board. Frankly, it makes BP look as though they have
something to hide from their own shareholders as well as the general
public."
For further information, contact:
Greg Muttitt, PLATFORM, 07970 589611
Anders Lustgarten, Baku-Ceyhan Campaign, 07973164363
Nicholas Hildyard, Corner House, 07773750534
Rochelle Harris, Kurdish Human Rights Project, 0207 2872772
Baku-Ceyhan Campaign
PLATFORM
Corner House
Friends of the Earth
Kurdish Human Rights Project
For immediate release 15 April 2004
BP Unprecedentedly Excludes Shareholders from Annual General Meeting
BP shareholders expressed outrage today as oil giant BP refused to allow
them to enter its Annual General Meeting (AGM).
The shareholders had come from Azerbaijan and Georgia to raise their
concerns about the hugely controversial Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
directly with the BP Board of Directors.
But BP - in a move never seen before at a British company's AGM - refused
them entry, citing "security" concerns. This was despite the fact that the
shareholders
had agreed to cooperate with security measures.
One of the shareholders, Mirvari Gahramanli, is Chair of the Committee for
Protection of Oil Workers' Rights in Azerbaijan. She has insisted that BP
immediately reinstate workers who have been sacked for complaining about
their working conditions, and stop discriminating against Azeri people.
Gahrahmanli noted, "The pipeline is being implemented in Azerbaijan without
any respect for human rights or national laws. BP must start to behave
responsibly, and compensate landowners for the land they have lost. And
they should treat Azeri workers in the same way they treat British and
American workers."
Mayis Gulaliyev, of the Monitoring Group for the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey
Pipelines System, added, "In Azerbaijan, we are given no information and BP
ignores us - it only talks to organisations that unconditionally support the
pipeline. So we came from Azerbaijan, as shareholders in BP, to raise our
concerns about the pipeline. But here too BP has excluded us."
Mina Dadalauri, of Georgian group Green Alternatives, said, "Coming from the
situation in Georgia, where BP is preparing to build a pipeline through a
protected national park territory, I came to vote for the resolution to stop
BP from damaging the important territory. BP risks its reputation along
with our natural environment. But I was denied the chance to vote."
Greg Muttitt, of the environment group PLATFORM which is co-hosting the
shareholders, commented, "This is a completely unreasonable - and probably
illegal - move. UK company law requires companies to allow their
shareholders into an Annual General Meeting, as a key opportunity for them
to address the Board. Frankly, it makes BP look as though they have
something to hide from their own shareholders as well as the general
public."
For further information, contact:
Greg Muttitt, PLATFORM, 07970 589611
Anders Lustgarten, Baku-Ceyhan Campaign, 07973164363
Nicholas Hildyard, Corner House, 07773750534
Rochelle Harris, Kurdish Human Rights Project, 0207 2872772
