4 September 2007
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) welcomes the decision of the
Pretoria High Court to endorse the Plea and Sentence Agreement in respect of
accused number 2.
The NPA thanks the following State Departments, which assisted it:
* The South African Police Service (SAPS)
* The South African Council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass
Destruction
* The Department of Minerals and Energy
* The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa)
* The South African Revenue Service (SARS)
* The Department of Foreign Affairs
* The National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
The NPA thanks the following foreign governments, which provided evidence or
other assistance to it:
* The United States of America
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain
* Malaysia
* Switzerland
* Spain
* The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Today, September 2007, the accused, Gerhard Wisser entered into a Plea and
Sentence Agreement with the State and as a consequence, was convicted of seven
counts which were in one way or the other connected to the activities of the AQ
Khan network and its procurement efforts for Libya and Pakistan.
The accused pleaded guilty to the following charges linked to the Libyan
nuclear weapons' programme:
* Count 1: The import and export of a flow-forming machine between November
2000 and December 2001.
* Count 2: The manufacturer of systems for the Libyan gas centrifuge plant
between 1999 and 2003.
* Count 4: An attempt to export the systems referred to in Count 2 in
2003.
The accused pleaded guilty to the following charges relating to the Pakistan
nuclear weapons' programme:
* Count 7: The manufacture of the three autoclaves in 1994/1995.
* Count 8: The export of the autoclaves in 1995.
* Count 9: Forgery of an order form in order to acquire Leybold Heraeus
vacuum equipment in May 1995.
* Count 10: Forgery of order forms also to acquire Leybold Heraeus equipment
in July 1995.
The accused was sentenced as follows:
*Count 1,3 and 4: Three years' correctional supervision and ten years'
imprisonment, suspended for five years on appropriate conditions.
* Count 7 and 8: Five years' imprisonment, suspended for five years on
appropriate conditions.
* Count 9 and 10: Three years' imprisonment, suspended for five years on
appropriate conditions.
The accused is required to co-operate with the authorities and has also
consented to a confiscatory order in respect of Euro 2,8 million and R6 million
as being the proceeds of crime.
The NPA regards the conviction as a significant step in combating nuclear
proliferation networks.
Contact:
Tlali Tlali
Cell: 082 333 3880
Issued by: National Prosecuting Authority
4 September 2007
