British Columbian Man Wins Right to Sue Silvercorp Metals

The Canadian Press reported that the BC Supreme Court has ruled that British Columbian Kun Huang can sue Silvercorp Metals Inc. (TSX:SVM,NYSE:SVM).

Huang alleges that Silvercorp worked with Chinese authorities to keep him imprisoned in China for years, and Silvercorp had attempted to get those allegations thrown out. The company wanted the case dealt with by the Chinese justice system.

As quoted in the market news:

Court documents outlined how Huang worked at the time in China as a researcher for John Carnes of EOS Funds, a New York-based hedge fund manager.

In 2011, he contributed to a brief but damning report that highlighted discrepancies in Silvercorp’s financial and mining output reports to Canadian and Chinese authorities.

In his lawsuit, Huang alleged the mining company provided money and encouragement to local police, directing them to detain and interrogate him.

He claimed local police, at Silvercorp’s direction, demanded he turn over passwords to his computer, email and trading accounts associated with EOS.

The documents further allege that Silvercorp used that access to find documents to bolster its defamation claim against Huang.

Following a lengthy detention, Huang was reportedly convicted in September 2013 in a single-day, closed-door criminal trial.

The article also states:

The Vancouver-based mining company had claimed in court that the case would be better dealt with in the Chinese justice system.

‘The burden is on the defendant to establish that the alternative forum is the ‘clearly more appropriate forum,’ wrote Justice Carol Ross in her judgment released Tuesday.

‘Silvercorp has not established that China is the clearly more appropriate forum.’

Click here to read the full report from the Canadian Press.