MikeLigalig.com

The trial of a Swiss-based firm over its alleged role in exporting toxic waste to Ivory Coast in 2006 has opened in the Netherlands.

The company, Trafigura, is accused of breaking Dutch export and environmental laws and forging official documents - charges it denies.

Tens of thousands of people in Ivory Coast said the waste made them ill.

The firm has always denied that the waste was dangerous, or that it knew the chemicals would be dumped.

Among those standing trial is an employee of Trafigura and the Ukrainian captain of the Probo Koala, the ship that exported the waste from the Netherlands. - BBc