BERLIN, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- In the trial of five former employees of German weapons manufacturer Heckler & Koch charged with illegal arms deliveries to Mexico, two of the five defendants were sentenced to probation, the Stuttgart regional court announced on Thursday.
The two convicts were given suspended sentences of 22 months and 17 months, respectively, for organized export of weapons after obtaining fraudulent permits under the German Foreign Trade and Payments Act. The other three defendants were acquitted.
The subject of the proceedings was the illegal export -- but not the use -- of weapons in Mexico, as the German court clarified.
The former Heckler & Koch employees are understood to have been responsible for supplying almost 4,300 assault rifles and almost 1,800 ammunition magazines destined to provinces in Mexico between 2006 and 2009. The necessary export permits had been obtained with deliberately incorrect information, according to the court.
Although the arms manufacturer was not directly charged, the court ordered the confiscation of the entire proceeds from the illegal arms deals -- 3.7 million euros (4.2 million U.S. dollars).
In a statement, Heckler & Koch announced that "we will examine today's verdict carefully. We can, however, not understand the court's decision that we should not only forfeit the profit generated on the Mexico business but instead forfeit the entire sales price."
According to the statement, the court did not take into account in its judgment that Heckler & Koch had "supported the proceedings and the active investigation" from the beginning.
