Dutch Businessman Sentenced for Nuclear Smuggling

A Dutch businessman convicted of illicit transfers of dual-use nuclear technology to Pakistan between 1999 and 2002 was sentenced Friday to one year in prison, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Nov. 21).

Henk Slebos knowingly sold prohibited equipment to former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan for use in Islamabad’s nuclear weapons program, the court ruled.

Slebos admitted that his company made the shipments but defended his actions.

“It was no different between the United States and Russia during the Cold War,” he told AP, adding that hundreds of companies delivered equipment to Khan’s laboratories.

Slebos will be free for two weeks, during which time he may file an appeal, according to AP (Toby Sterling, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Dec. 17).

Another man with alleged connections to the Khan network, German engineer Gotthard Lerch, was charged Friday with participating in Libya’s now-defunct nuclear weapons program, AP reported.

Lerch is accused of violating German trade and weapons laws to help Tripoli develop a uranium enrichment centrifuge between 1999 and 2003, said Christina Arnold, a spokeswoman for prosecutors in Mannheim (Associated Press/Pravda, Dec. 16).

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