MTN continues to fight an ongoing US antiterrorism case, which may proceed to a trial.
“MTN firmly believes that the plaintiffs have sued the wrong defendants in the wrong court, based on insufficient allegations,” the company said as it reported third quarter earnings earlier in November.
The group said it had “deep sympathy for those who have been injured or lost loved ones as result of the tragic conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan”.
The case has been hanging over MTN for close to four years after the families of more than 200 US soldiers killed and wounded in Afghanistan — which the US invaded in the early 2000s to topple the Taliban — claimed it had paid protection money to the Islamist movement and actively helped its fighters from being detected by counterinsurgency forces.
In late September, a US court denied — in part — a motion by MTN to dismiss the anti-terrorism claims against it. This means that the case will proceed to the next phases, which include discovery, the exchange of information in the parties’ possession; summary judgment motions, requests that the court grant judgment on the law, without a trial, because there are no factual disputes for a jury to resolve; and, if necessary, a trial.
At the weekend, City Press reported that MTN and plaintiffs had agreed on the timelines to be considered regarding the case’s hearing.
According to the report, February 29 2024 will be the deadline for initial disclosures to be done, after which initial discovery requests are to be conducted on March 15.
Earlier, MTN and two of its subsidiaries, MTN Dubai and MTN Afghanistan, had filed a request that the court dismiss the case for two reasons: “Firstly, the court lacks jurisdiction over MTN defendants, which does not operate in the US, and secondly, the complaint does not allege any conduct by MTN defendants that violated the Anti-Terrorism Act”.
The latest court decision upheld the motion to dismiss the case against MTN Dubai on the grounds that “the plaintiffs did not attribute any specific conduct to MTN Dubai”. As such, MTN Dubai is no longer a party to the proceedings.
Africa’s largest mobile operator says “the court’s dismissal order does not mean that MTN has lost the case, nor does it suggest that MTN violated the law or otherwise engaged in wrongdoing”.
The group explains that under US law and procedures, MTN and the other defendants in the case “could not challenge the factual allegations made against the company at the motion-to-dismiss phase. In the next phases of the litigation, MTN will have an opportunity to produce and solicit evidence to disprove plaintiffs’ allegations.”
If this does happen, the parties could potentially have an opportunity to submit summary judgment motions. These are requests that the court award judgment as a matter of law based on the evidence produced during discovery.
“Should the parties decline to move for summary judgment, or if the court denies the motions, then the case will proceed.”
The court has granted MTN permission to file full arguments in support of an application for leave to appeal. If the court grants the application, then the case will proceed to the Court of Appeal.
Previously, lawyers representing the families of US servicepeople and civilians killed and injured by the Taliban between 2009 and 2017 filed an enlarged and amended complaint in the district court of Washington DC.
A US-led military coalition invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to depose the Taliban government, which had been in power since the late 1990s, because it was accused of harbouring Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organisation, which masterminded terror attacks on the US in September 2001.
The lawyers sought damages from MTN and the other companies as a result of their alleged explicit financial support for what the US considers a terrorist organisation.
MTN entered Afghanistan in 2006 and over a period of years that overlapped with the US occupation built the operation to become the country’s largest network.
This comes as MTN is in the process of completing the first phase of exiting its Middle East businesses. The company plans to exit Afghanistan by the end of 2023, having received a binding offer for the sale of MTN Afghanistan for about $25m in June 2022. The deal recently received conditional approval from authorities in the country.
The Yemen and Syrian businesses were sold in 2021, with Iran being the only Middle East business that will be left for MTN.
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