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Cuba hands down 15-year sentence to Canadian executive Cy Tokmakjian
September 28, 2014
BBC - A court in Cuba has sentenced the president of a Canadian
transport company to 15 years in jail for bribery.
Cy Tokmakjian, 74, was detained in Cuba in 2011 as part an
anti-corruption operation. He denies the charges.
The Tokmakjian Group said the court had seized its assets in Cuba,
worth about $100m (£62m).
The company said the ruling was worrying development for potential
investors on the Communist-run island.
"Lack of due process doesn't begin to describe the travesty of justice
that is being suffered by foreign businessmen in Cuba," the company
said in a statement.
Two other executives from the Tokmakjian Group - fellow Canadian
citizens Claudio Vetere and Marco Puche - were sentenced to eight and
12 years in prison.
The Ontario-based company used to sell transportation, mining and
construction equipment to Cuba.
There has been no comment on the case from the Cuban authorities.
Claims
Its offices in Havana were seized in 2011 when President Raul Castro
launched a major drive against corruption in the Caribbean nation.
Canadian MP Peter Kent visited Mr Tokmakjian in jail last year.
"The trial was, from almost any measure, extraordinarily unfair and
rigged," Mr Kent told the Financial Post newspaper.
The Tokmakjian Group was the sole representative of South Korean
company Hyundai in Cuba, which has been making efforts to replace its
ageing car and bus fleet.
The company has launched claims worth more than $200m (£123) against
Cuba through the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris and
Canada's Ontario Superior Court.
http://www.horizonweekly.ca/news/details/49520
September 28, 2014
BBC - A court in Cuba has sentenced the president of a Canadian
transport company to 15 years in jail for bribery.
Cy Tokmakjian, 74, was detained in Cuba in 2011 as part an
anti-corruption operation. He denies the charges.
The Tokmakjian Group said the court had seized its assets in Cuba,
worth about $100m (£62m).
The company said the ruling was worrying development for potential
investors on the Communist-run island.
"Lack of due process doesn't begin to describe the travesty of justice
that is being suffered by foreign businessmen in Cuba," the company
said in a statement.
Two other executives from the Tokmakjian Group - fellow Canadian
citizens Claudio Vetere and Marco Puche - were sentenced to eight and
12 years in prison.
The Ontario-based company used to sell transportation, mining and
construction equipment to Cuba.
There has been no comment on the case from the Cuban authorities.
Claims
Its offices in Havana were seized in 2011 when President Raul Castro
launched a major drive against corruption in the Caribbean nation.
Canadian MP Peter Kent visited Mr Tokmakjian in jail last year.
"The trial was, from almost any measure, extraordinarily unfair and
rigged," Mr Kent told the Financial Post newspaper.
The Tokmakjian Group was the sole representative of South Korean
company Hyundai in Cuba, which has been making efforts to replace its
ageing car and bus fleet.
The company has launched claims worth more than $200m (£123) against
Cuba through the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris and
Canada's Ontario Superior Court.
http://www.horizonweekly.ca/news/details/49520