A chemist Eugen Lang, and engineers Friedrich Schoffel and Rudiger Berndt,
were convicted at Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, last week for violating laws
on the export of chemical weapons. They worked for Imhausen Chemical, a
German company, and were accused of helping Libya to build a mustard and
nerve gas plant at Rabta.
The company initially maintained it was building a pharmaceuticals plant.
When a government investigation proved otherwise, the company’s president,
Jurgen Hippenstiel-Imhausen, received a five-year prison sentence for masterminding
the scheme.
Lang, Schoffel, and Berndt first claimed they did not know they were
working on a weapons plant, but later changed their story. Lang and Schoffel
received prison sentences of 16 and 14 months. Berndt received a suspended
sentence and must pay a fine of DM10 000 (£3500) to the German Nature
Protection Association.
