UPDATE: Response to lawsuit filed by Isa and Mehdi Saharkhiz against Nokia Siemens Networks

UPDATE: This lawsuit was withdrawn by the plaintiffs on November 10, 2010

This statement is an update to that issued by the company on August 17, 2010 where it declined to comment on the complaint.

We have no quarrel with Isa Saharkhiz and his son; indeed Nokia Siemens Networks condemns human rights violations around the world. But the Saharkhiz lawsuit is brought in the wrong place, against the wrong party, and on the wrong premise.

The Saharkhizes allege brutal treatment by the Government in Iran, but they have not sued that government. Instead, they are seeking to blame Nokia Siemens Networks for the acts of the Iranian authorities by filing a lawsuit in the U.S., a country that has absolutely no connection to the issues they are raising.

Mobile communications are a powerful tool in the promotion of human rights and the rule of law. They have done far more to empower those who fight for democracy than to empower oppressive governments. It is true that all modern mobile communications networks include a lawful interception capability; this capability became a standard feature at the insistence of the United States and European nations. These countries needed the capability for law enforcement reasons that are common throughout the world. It is unrealistic to demand, as the Saharkhiz lawsuit does, that wireless communications systems based on global technology standards be sold without that capability.

Further information about our activities in Iran can be found in our 2009 corporate responsibility report and in the statement given in June to the European Parliament’s sub-committee on human rights.

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