🚨 €1M Retaliation for Exposing Russia Sanctions Evasion
#Kyrgyz #Bakai bank filed a SLAPP lawsuit against Open Dialogue Foundation in #Belgium, demanding removal of our two reports & €1M damages - a common intimidation tactic used in Kyrgyzstan to silence critics.
🔴 Key facts on Bakai bank #SLAPP case against ODF in Belgium: • Bank waited 18 months to file • No evidence of actual damage provided • €1M claims typical in Kyrgyz censorship cases • To date, a lot of information can be found with offers of intermediaries to open accounts in Bakai bank to bypass sanctions • ODF's reports remain public, addressing sanctions circumvention
While ODF advocates for financial inclusion and privacy, we have revealed in 8 reports how authoritarian regimes abuse AML/CFT laws to:
- violate financial & human rights domestically,
- conduct transnational repression in Western countries and
- evade sanctions.
🔎The bigger picture: While Russia claims to use #Bitcoin for foreign trade, our investigation shows preference for less traceable traditional banking systems in Central Asia.
🔴 Why? Russia's action, not declarations, should be followed: • Bitcoin = permanent public record • Regional banks of Central Asia = established infrastructure + opacity of completely unaccountable rulers • Traditional banking of third countries enables sanctions evasion more effectively
🔴 The real problem: Current #AML regime relies on 'trust' with authoritarian and dictatorial states. This enables: • Sanctions circumvention through banks controlled by them and their allies • Abuse of Western legal systems to silence critics
🔴 AML/CFT laws impact on legitimate actors: • Excessive compliance costs for Western businesses • Financial barriers for NGOs & humanitarian aid • Continued global financial exclusion and repressions
🔴 Bakai's bank SLAPP case against ODF in Belgium proves: Banks will go transnational to silence those exposing sanction evasion schemes. Time to reform the AML/CFT system that enables both censorship and sanctions circumvention.
🟢 Help us to stop such abuses and get funding for legal defence against SLAPP of Bakai Bank, support ODF's human rights work!
