Swiss Arms Sale Inquiry

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31902, 1 February 1969, Page 13

Swiss Arms Sale Inquiry

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

BERNE, Jan. 31.

The Swiss Government is to hold a judicial inquiry into the illegal export of weapons worth about $18,200,000 from the Oerlikon-Buehrle arms factory more than half of them to South Africa.

A Government announcement blamed the head of the firm, Mr Dieter Buehrle, for failing to prevent the illegal exports, which contravened a ban on the sale of arms to trouble spots, such as Nigeria and the Middle East. The inquiry will concentrate on three employees of the firm—Gabriel Lebedin-

sky, aged 54, a director, Alexandre Gelbert, a deputy director, and Max Meila, aged 61. a senior executive. The announcement said: ‘They are accused of having obtained or tried to obtain manufacturing and export permits from the competent Federal authorities by knowingly supplying inaccurate information and producing falsified documents.” Two subordinate employees are suspected of being implicated in the illegal exports and the investigating judge is empowered to extend his inquiry to other persons if nesessary.

The announcement said South Africa had received weapons worth abou* $10,700,-

Oerlikon-Buehrle weapons were also exported illegally to Israel (s3m), Egypt (sl.2m), Saudi Arabia

($857,000), Nigeria (51.07 m and Lebanon (about $32,000), the Government said. An official spokesman said the Government regarded the case, which has rocked the Swiss arms industry, as a major test of the country’s reputation. The scandal has already provoked public demands that all arms exports be halted and that the arms industry be nationalised—a drastic step in private enterpriseconscious Switzerland. Two other inquiries, touched off by the OerlikonBuhrle affair, would continue, the spokesman said. One is probing whether officials of the Defence or Finance Ministries should be charged with negligence in not spotting the falsified documents, and the other is looking into exports b. other arms companies.