A German court has handed suspended jail terms to two ex-employees of gun maker Heckler & Koch and fined the firm €3.7m ($4.1m USD) for illegal arms deliveries to Mexico.
The Stuttgart court acquitted three other H&K ex-employees.
H&K was found to have breached German arms export rules by shipping nearly 5,000 G36 assault rifles and smaller firearms to strife-torn regions.
Mexico is plagued by warfare involving drug gangs and paramilitaries.
Germany’s arms export restrictions include Mexican states such as Chiapas, Chihuahua and Guerrero, which are blighted by murders and kidnappings.
The H&K deliveries took place in 2006-2009. One ex-employee was given a suspended sentence of one year and 10 months, plus a fine of €80,000 ($90,700 USD). The other received one year and five months and was ordered to do 250 hours of social work.
H&K guns, made in the south-western town of Oberndorf, are used in conflicts worldwide. Besides Mexico, they have gone to troops and militias in Pakistan, Myanmar (Burma), Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey.
The firm’s annual turnover is about €200m ($226m USD).
Source: BBC
