It’s about alleged illegal exports of rifles to Mexico: An allegation that the German arms company Heckler & Koch in Erklärungsnot. Now the judgment falls.
The Heckler & Koch Assault Rifle G36
The German justice draws on Thursday, closing the book on a decades-long investigation. Then, the regional court of Stuttgart decides on five former employees of the largest small arms manufacturer in the country, Heckler & Koch. You will be accused, from 2006 to 2009, more than 4680 assault rifles of the type G36 illegally to Mexico to be exported. Particularly explosive: Some of the weapons have been used in 2014 in the murder of six Mexican students and the suspected murder of 43 students who were abducted in the state of Iguala,.
Corrupt cops and the drug mafia should be responsible for the massacre. Human rights activists do not see, however, only a share of responsibility in the case of Heckler & Koch, but also in the German public Prosecutor’s office and the Federal government, At the Prosecutor’s office because she needed several years to investigate the case and, in the case of the government, because you should have controlled your own export guidelines are sufficient.
The victims-members are not allowed in the process
The spokesman for the campaign “action Outcry – stop the arms trade!”, Jürgen Grässlin, who had initiated the investigation in 2010 with an indictment, criticized that the court has not admitted members of the Iguala victims in addition to plaintiff. At the same time, Grässlin does not complain that the role of the Federal government, was part of the investigations.
The trial began in the courtroom of the regional court of Stuttgart
“The observation of the Heckler & Koch process leads to the conclusion that The export licensing authorities on the dock,” he explains. The disregard of the victim have characterized the process. “The approval of Affected state, the real consequences of arms exports to Mexico would have made it clear.” Grässlin was at 28 days of negotiations present. In an interview with the Foundation for science and politics, he reports how difficult it is to endure for him was, “that in this process, the mutilated with the G36 assault rifles, crippled and killed people in Mexico have played no role.”
The publicist and armor opponent, Jürgen Grässlin
Nevertheless, he sees the process as a great success. Never had been passed in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany in the field of small arms “such a brightening criminal case against a weapons forge”. For the first Time, it is likely to be a condemnation of the company Heckler & Koch or several of its former employees for involvement in illegal arms transactions, believes Grässlin. In addition, in a frightening clarity had become clear that “the arms export control regime of the Federal Republic of Germany is not worth the paper on which it is written.”
Supplies in dangerous regions
The process actually covers a gap in the German controls on arms exports for Mexico: While the sale of arms to the country was allowed, in General, wanted to ban the German authorities of their use in certain Mexican States: Chihuahua, Chiapas, Guerrero, and Jalisco – are there, so where’s the war with drug cartels, corrupt police forces and human right violations.
However, Investigation by journalists revealed that the G36 rifles were delivered very well to the police of this taboo regions. Similarly, it is questionable whether the Mexican defense Ministry, which had purchased the weapons, was at all in the final Destination, a Declaration of restrictions be aware of.
Vigil in front of the regional court of Stuttgart for the victims of the massacre of students in the Mexican city of Iguala
In the meantime, Heckler & Koch was able to point out that the weapons were not delivered to the Ministry, although this was apparently their final destination.
Glitches in the competent Ministry
“It was clear from the beginning, where the supplies would go,” said attorney General Karlheinz Erkert in his final statement to the process that began in mid-may. He described the affair as “scandalous, shameful and gloomy”. The five defendants are accused of the violation of German export laws and the war weapons export laws. But her responsibility was mitigated by the evidence: The competent authorities of irregularities in the creation of the export certificates could be detected. Apparently, they had interpreted the existing law to have been wrong. For export certificates the Federal Ministry of Economics in agreement with the Federal foreign office is responsible. However, none of its officials was accused of.
The Prosecutor’s office calls for only two of the defendant’s imprisonment. It is about sales Manager Ingo S. and an office worker, Marianne B. was involved in an E-Mail, stating that the company wanted to influence the final Destination-take Declaration. The Prosecutor also recommends a 22-month sentence for Peter B., a former Board of Directors of Heckler & Koch and former President of the district court.
Only one wheel in the gearbox?
According to the proposal of the prosecutors, the judgment may be suspended, if Peter B. paid a fine of 200,000 euros. The Prosecutor suggested that the weapons company pays a monetary penalty of 4.1 million euros, which corresponds to the approximate price of the weapons sold in the Mexico business. The defender pleaded not guilty. The defendants were either just following orders or, in their most senior positions, not with Details.
A large part of the responsibility lies also with the approval authorities. You need to be accused of negligence, argued the defender, because they issued permits for Mexico, even though you had to expect that there not going to be used is controlled, where the weapons. Decisive for the judgment will be whether or not a final Destination, explanation will be considered by the court as part of the export licence or not. It is not excluded that this question could have legal repercussions – before the German Federal court of justice.