Belgium initiated a criminal investigation against Apple, accused of “knowingly” purchasing “bloody minerals” from armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), reports RB.RU, referring to an article Financial Times (FT).
Apple/ Visuth.s/ Shutterstock
According to the publication, in December 2024 year DDRC filed judicial claims against subsidiaries of Apple in Belgium and France. Lawyers for the DDRC confirm that the company is using minerals supplied by armed groups that terrorize the eastern part of the country.
Last week the Belgian prosecutors appointed an investigating judge, who will control the progress of the investigation and be responsible for issuing warrants for arrest, listening to telephone conversations and conducting searches, as reported by advocates representing the DRC.
The suit claims that Apple purchases tantalum (from coltan, which is used in the production of iPhones, with more than half of the world’s reserves in Congo), and Apple denies the accusations DDRC of purchasing tantalum from Congolese armed forces, stressing “its “deep commitment to responsible approach to mining minerals. The Company declares that the usedIt certifies the minerals as mined in the Rwanda mines or in
