MTN’s headquarters in SA.
Turkcell will challenge MTN’s application to the Constitutional Court for leave to appeal the recent Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgement in the long-running bribery dispute.
Last month, mobile operator MTN approached the ConCourt seeking leave to appeal the SCA decision that allows for the case to be heard in South African courts.
MTN and Turkcell have been at loggerheads since 2013 over the case that involves allegations of bribery and corruption against the JSE-listed telephony group.
Turkcell alleges MTN paid off Iranian and South African officials to overturn a public tender that it lost for a multibillion-dollar opportunity to run the Iranian GSM telecoms licence.
Turkcell and its wholly-owned subsidiary, East Asian Consortium (EAC), sought damages of $4.2 billion (R78 billion) from MTN amid allegations of impropriety in the 2005 award of the first private mobile telecommunications licence in Iran.
In a statement today, the Istanbul-based Turkcell says the SCA’s judgement affirms the jurisdiction of South African courts to hear EAC’s claims that MTN engaged in bribery and corruption in connection with its operations in Iran.
It adds the SCA judgement represents a “significant victory” for the principle that South African companies should be held accountable in South Africa for their conduct abroad.
“MTN’s request to seek leave to appeal the SCA’s judgement at the Constitutional Court is yet another attempt to delay accountability and avoid a trial where the full truth will come to light,” says Cedric Soule, counsel for Turkcell.
“The Supreme Court of Appeal made it clear: South African courts are the appropriate venue for these serious allegations to be tested. It’s time for MTN and its former executives to face the evidence in a South African courtroom before an impartial South African judge.
“MTN’s repeated reliance on the Hoffmann Report, an internal investigation commissioned by MTN’s board, as supposedly exonerating it, is improper. The process that MTN put together lacked the independence, rigour and transparency of a judicial proceeding. Notably, the Hoffmann Committee failed to interview key witnesses, did not independently gather or assess evidence, and did not use independent counsel; its conclusions are therefore unreliable and irrelevant to the current proceedings.”
In its opposition to MTN’s application for leave, Turkcell has rejected MTN’s argument that the courts of the Islamic Republic of Iran would offer a fair alternative venue for EAC to litigate its claims against MTN.
The firm argues that it’s difficult to accept that MTN, which is alleged to have acted with Iranian officials to improperly obtain a tender, would propose that the courts of the Islamic Republic of Iran constitute an appropriate forum for the adjudication of this dispute.
It adds there are well-documented concerns regarding judicial independence and due process with the Iranian courts.
“After more than 12 years of procedural stalling, Turkcell remains committed to presenting the full evidence in court. This case is about holding South African companies accountable for their actions abroad, especially when those actions involve serious allegations of bribery and corruption,” states Soule.
The ConCourt will now decide whether to grant the request for leave to appeal filed by MTN and the other defendants. Turkcell says it expects a decision within three months.
