Greenpeace filed a criminal complaint against OKD today for spreading a contagious human disease.
The NGO alleges that OKD and its management acted negligently by not halting operations at the Darkov Mine at the first sign of a COVID-19 outbreak among OKD employees. The complaint cites the fact that a state of emergency was in effect as an aggravating factor.
“The Darkov mine is not part of the government-defined critical infrastructure. The employer was therefore obliged to terminate or reduce the operation so that the spread of the epidemic did not occur. The heroic deployment of unarmed soldiers against the enemy may have a place in some key moments of the fighting on the Eastern Front during World War II, but it should not be done to generate profit for a private company in a civilized society. OKD’s management has criminally endangered the health and lives of its employees, their families and residents throughout the region, and should be held accountable,” said Jan Rovenský from the Greenpeace CR energy campaign.
Greenpeace says the first two cases of COVID-19 at the OKD mine were detected on April 30.
“The number of infected employees increased gradually, but the company’s management didn’t limit operations at the mine in any way,” Greenpeace spokesman Lukáš Hrábek said.
“We learned about the filed criminal report from the media, we are not familiar with its content, and we will not comment on it at this time,” an OKD spokeswoman said.