Turkcell keen to present allegations of bribery against MTN in court
Turkcell alleges that MTN paid off both Iranian and South African officials to overturn a public tender, which it lost to Turkcell, for a multi-billion-dollar opportunity to run an Iranian GSM telecom licence.
Image: MTN/Facebook
After having won a landmark judgement in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), Turkcell is now looking forward to presenting evidence that it believes shows that MTN committed acts of bribery and corruption to overturn the award of an Iranian GSM licence to Turkcell.
The SCA ruling set a precedent in that it was the first time a South African court had been asked to determine whether allegations of misconduct that apparently took place in another country could be heard locally.
Turkcell's legal wrangle with MTN dates back more than a decade when it initially approached the US courts in an action it later retracted. It is arguing that MTN did not win its 49% of a telecommunications licence in Iran fairly.
Last week, the SCA said that the matter can go ahead in a South African court, with Cedric Soule, global counsel for Turkcell on Monday, saying, 'EAC is pleased with the Supreme Court of Appeal's decision. EAC now looks forward to presenting to the South African courts, for the first time, the evidence that it believes shows that MTN committed acts of bribery and corruption to overturn the award of an Iranian GSM licence to Turkcell.'
Turkcell alleges that MTN paid off both Iranian and South African officials to overturn a public tender, which it lost to Turkcell, for a multi-billion-dollar opportunity to run an Iranian GSM telecom licence, it said in a statement.
MTN has said that it intends to approach the Constitutional Court to appeal the ruling.
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