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Being a Shell critic is potentially a very dangerous pursuit

johnBy John Donovan (left)

After being described in a recent Reuters article as a prominent Shell critic, it seemed sensible to check out on Google how other Shell critics have fared. Are there any risks involved, other than the obvious – litigation?

The Google results are not reassuring.

The headline of one article says “Shell critic’s boat sunk off Rossport“. Pat O’Donnell, an outspoken critic of the Shell Corrib gas pipeline project in Ireland, claimed that his fishing boat was boarded by a group of four masked armed men who scuttled the vessel. O’Donnell said that he was in fear of his life. Fortunately I don’t have a boat.

Other vocal critics of the Corrib pipeline e.g. the “Rossport Five”, were thrown in jail at the behest of Shell.

After Anita Roddick’s Body Shop and Greenpeace criticized Shell, both became the targets of undercover dirty tricks operations commissioned and paid for by Shell (as reported in The Sunday Times article: “MI6 Firm Spied on Green Groups”).

What happened to another “prominent critic” of Shell – Ken Saro-Wiwa – is even more worrying. A New York Times  article with the headline “Shell to settle Abuse Case for $15.5” reports:

The announcement caps a protracted legal battle that began shortly after the death of the Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995. Mr. Saro-Wiwa, Shell’s most prominent critic at the time in Nigeria, was hanged by that country’s military regime after protesting the company’s environmental practices in the oil-rich delta, especially in his native Ogoni region. Shell continued Monday to deny any role in the death. It called the settlement a “humanitarian gesture”…

Under the circumstances, my father and I will be watching out for further Shell cloak and dagger activity directed at us, as well as at Shell’s own employees.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

2 Comments

  1. John Donovan says:

    I see uscitizen that you are still blindly loyal to Shell. First, I do not work for Shell. I am an owner of the company along with other shareholders. Hence I cannot be fired. There is no question of slander. Since what we say is in written form, it would be libel if not for the fact that what we state is true. How long do you think it would take Shell to issue proceedings against us if we published false accusations against the company. Shell could obtain an injunction and shut the site down. You figure it out. As for Shell employees always obeying the law, this is more nonsense on your part. Check out the track record of Royal Dutch Shell in the Wikipedia articles about the company. Leadership role in illegal cartels, price fixing, securities fraud, etc, etc. You either have your head in the sand or are plain ignorant.

  2. uscitizen says:

    And you accuse Shell of being an ethically challenged company. I can tell you this, if I did something that was 1/10th as offensive and slanderous as what you do everyday- I would be fired on the spot and would deserve it, because we do not act that way at Shell. Despite all your twisting of data, Shell employees simply obey the law. If we even thought of intentionally violating a permit, we would be gone, and we know it. You sir continue to be a joke and I do not envy your bitter lonely life.

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