“Colombian farmers secure freezing injunction against oil giant Amerisur” - 10 January 2020

A group of Colombian campesinos (small scale farmers) have secured an urgent interim freezing injunction, granted by the High Court today, against oil company Amerisur Resources Plc…The injunction requires Amerisur to preserve £3million of its UK assets, the purpose being to ensure that the claims and legal costs can be met if the campesinos succeed in an environmental damages legal claim...The environmental claim was issued at the High Court by law firm Leigh Day on behalf of the Colombians on 30 December 2019 against Amerisur for allegedly polluting the waterways in the Putumayo region…The urgency for the injunction arose because a court hearing has been scheduled on Tuesday 14thJanuary 2020 approve the £240million sale of Amerisur to GeoPark Colombia, and the delisting of Amerisur from the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The claimants’ concern is that this will be followed by the winding up and dissipation of assets of Amerisur, and that this would render their claims pointless. In seeking the injunction, the claimants’ objective was to protect their rights not to cause any inference with Amerisur’s Scheme of sale...