Heckler & Koch must pay for illegal Mexican arms sales, says top German court

The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has upheld a lower court decision from 2019 that found that some employees at arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch (H&K) had knowingly falsified information concerning the nature and destination of weapons the company had sold in order to obtain export licences.

In 2019, Stuttgart's District Court ruled that two employees of H&K had broken federal law through their failure to declare the actual destination of weapons sold by the company in the end-use statements.

The two individuals received 17 and 22-month suspended sentences, and three other employees were found not guilty. In addition, the Court ordered the confiscation of revenues connected with the sale, totalling €3.7 million.

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This week's ruling upheld the verdict of the lower court against the two individuals and the confiscation of any money connected with the illegal sale.

The export licences gave H&K permission to export large quantities of weapons - predominantly more than 4,200 G36 assault rifles - and component parts to Mexico's central purchasing body. The guns were then sold to police departments, many of which are in states with poor records on human rights.

The case reached Germany's highest criminal court on appeal by both the prosecution and the defence lawyers. The prosecution attorneys were seeking tougher penalties, whereas lawyers working for the defendants - one of whom died in 2015 and the other now lives in Mexico, claiming to be too ill to travel  - were seeking acquittal.  

Initially, the BGH has ordered H&K to pay €3 million of the original €3.7 million while it reviews issues related to statutes of limitations on the remaining €700,000. 

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However, a recent and separate Federal Constitutional Court decision on the issue suggests that the arms company will be made to pay the full sum ultimately.

Presiding judge Jürgen Schäfer said that while Heckler & Koch's management board may not have been involved in the criminal activity, it must accept responsibility for its employees' action nonetheless.

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