US revives lawsuit against AstraZeneca, Pfizer over Iraq terror funding
A US court of appeal revives the lawsuit against 21 companies, including AstraZeneca and Pfizer, on charges related to supporting and financing terrorism, through concluding contracts with the Iraqi Ministry of Health, which is controlled by a group supported by the Iranian regime and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
The plaintiffs asserted that the so-called Jaysh al-Mahdi group controlled the Iraqi Ministry of Health, and that the defendants, 21 US and European companies providing medical supplies and equipment, had offered bribes to obtain medical supply contracts, which they denied had committed any wrongdoing, Reuters reported.
Representatives of the 5 companies said: AstraZeneca, American Holding J.E. Health Care, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Hoffmann-La Roche, in a joint statement: “Additional measures will show that companies are not responsible in any way”.
The lawsuit, filed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, was filed by family members of victims of attacks in Iraq by the Jaysh al-Mahdi group, and was rejected by a federal judge in 2020.
Lawyer Kannon Shanmugam, who acted on behalf of the companies in the Court of Appeal, has yet to comment and family lawyer Joshua Branson has not yet commented.
Lawyers for the companies told the Court of Appeal that they provided the Iraqi government with lifesaving breast cancer treatments, hemophilia injections, ultrasound and cardiac devices, and other medical equipment after the US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Shanmugam said in court last September: The ruling against corporations will have a very frightening effect on the willingness of companies and NGOs to undertake essential activities, often at the request of the Government, in areas of unrest.
