RTZ meeting ends in chaos

Press, 5 June 1982, Page 21

RTZ meeting ends in chaos

1 A London Police were called to break up scuffles between stewards and dissident share-holders-at the close of the annual meeting of Rio TintoZinc, the London-based international mining and industrial group. The scuffles' broke out when Sir Anthony Tuke, RTZ chairman, closed the meeting abruptly after an hour/and-a-, half of questions-and statements from shareholders, most of them expressing concern about the group's operations in Namibia and Australia. i It was later announced that RTZ is being threatened

by the United Nations Council for Namibia with legal action over its activities in the territory. At the meeting in the Europa Hotel. London, several shareholders suggested that the meeting should be closed, because it was not the proper forum for "this sort of politically motivated questioning." As Sir Anthony declared the meeting closed, angry shareholders grabbed for microphones, demanding the right to speak. The meeting dissolved into chaos, with people standing on chairs and shouting at the directors as they left the hall. Several people then rushed the platform, and stewards

stepped in to protect the departing directors. About 30 people climbed on the platform and started to harangue remaining shareholders, but it was impossible to understand what was being said because of the noise, the “Financial Times" reported. Four police officers, who had been outside the hall throughout the meeting, entered and began to remove the protesters when it became evident that the stewards would be unable to clear the hall. Several dissidents, some of whom had attended a meeting the previous evening to co-ordinate the protest activities, sat on the floor and were carried out kicking and shouting.

At a press conference after the meeting, called by Namibian action groups, two lawyers, who have been helping the U.N. Council for Namibia said the council was considering action in various countries.

Professor Hans Verheul, of Leyden University in the Netherlands, arid Mr Sol Picciotto, senior lecturer in law at Warwick University, were among those at the meeting who criticised RTZ's Namibian involvement. Action by the British or Dutch governments is unlikely. The British Government has never opposed RTZ's mining activities — despite its support for the U.N. view that the South African administration of Namibia is illegal, the lawyers said.