BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2022) The Higher Regional Court of Dresden has sentenced a German entrepreneur from Leipzig to three years and three months in prison for illegal exports of dual-use equipment to Russia, German news agency DPA reported on Friday.
DPA cited the court decision as saying that the defendant had been exporting equipment to several Russian companies for several years. The judges ruled that the defendant was aware that the shipments were destined for counterparty organizations and not for consumers.
The sentence is not final yet, according to the report. The defendant has been acquitted of the charges of cooperation with foreign intelligence and the control of military arms since the defense had reached a settlement agreement with the prosecution. Almost one million Euros ($1.008 million) will be seized from the defendant's company. The defendant will be released for procedural reasons; however, his ID will be confiscated so that he will not be able to flee the country. The defendant will be required to report to the police every week.
German citizen Aleksander S. was accused of violating the German War Weapons Control Act by attempting to facilitate the production of chemical weapons in February 2021. He was also accused of violating the German Foreign Trade and Payments Act, exporting equipment without required licenses, violating a sales ban, and acting in favor of the secret service of a foreign power.
According to investigators, the defendant is the sole managing director of a trading firm and had business relations with a company based in Russia. According to the reports of the Office of the German Federal Prosecutor, Russian special services allegedly "controlled a conspiratorial procurement network to disguise the real end-consumers in the military industry" through the defendant's company.
