Contempt-of-court trial opens for Steven Donziger, lawyer who sued Chevron for Amazon oil spills 

New York, May 11 (RHC)-- In New York City, the federal trial against environmental and human rights lawyer Steven Donziger is underway. 

Donziger has been on house arrest for over 600 days on allegations of contempt of court. In 2013, he won a landmark $9.5 billion judgment against oil giant Chevron over the corporation’s dumping of 16 billion gallons of oil into the Ecuadorian Amazon. 

Steven Donziger, who has since been disbarred, says Chevron’s legal attacks on him are meant to silence critics and stop other lawsuits against the company for environmental damage.  In a recent interview, Donziger said: “Chevron destroyed the Ecuadorian Amazon, and I was part of a legal team that held the company accountable.  The decision in Ecuador has been affirmed by multiple appellate courts in Ecuador and Canada.  What Chevron did is, rather than pay the judgment that it owes to the thousands of people in Ecuador that it poisoned, it’s gone after me and other lawyers.”

The news outlet Common Dreams reports Dozinger’s trial is being overseen by right-wing Judge Loretta Preska, a member of the Federalist Society.