nuclear-news

Swiss men smuggled nuclear weapons technology while working for CIA

 3 Swiss to avoid trial in politically sensitive nuclear smuggling case, Washington Post, By Associated Press, November 13 BERN, Switzerland — Swiss prosecutors will opt to avoid a public trial for three Swiss men suspected of giving nuclear weapons technology and supplies to a rogue network in Pakistan, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The case is politically sensitive for Switzerland and the United States because of alleged national security implications, the men’s alleged CIA ties, and repeated instances of evidence being destroyed.It involves charges of violating Swiss nonproliferation laws.

Urs Tinner, his brother Marco and their father Friedrich have been
under investigation by Swiss authorities for almost a decade for
supplying equipment and technical know-how to an international
smuggling ring led by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Urs Tinner was released in December 2008 after almost five years in
investigative detention without being charged.

As the creator of Pakistan’s atomic bomb, Khan sold the centrifuges
for secret nuclear weapons programs in countries that included Libya
and Iran before his operation was disrupted in 2003.

A spokeswoman for the federal prosecutors, Walburga Bur, has
previously told AP that a shortened procedure was possible under which
the Swiss engineers admit the basic charges against them but face no
more than five years imprisonment. Normally, anyone who breaks Swiss
laws banning the export of nuclear material faces up to 10 years
imprisonment.

Urs Tinner, who like his brother and father has been released on bail
pending charges, claimed in an 2009 interview with Swiss TV station
SF1 that he had worked with U.S. intelligence. He said he had tipped
off the CIA about a delivery of centrifuge parts meant for Libya’s
nuclear weapons program.

The CIA has declined to comment on the case…..

The case against the Tinners sparked a political outcry in Switzerland
after it was revealed that the Swiss government repeatedly ordered
evidence destroyed, allegedly under pressure from senior U.S.
officials.

The Swiss government cited national security concerns, but a
parliamentary investigation found there had been no immediate danger
to Switzerland’s security.

A Swiss investigating magistrate, Andreas Mueller, who oversaw the
last three years of a six-year federal probe against the Tinners,
recommended last December that the government bring charges against
the three men.

Mueller said his recommendation, contained in a confidential report to
federal prosecutors, was based on an exhaustive probe. He said the
Tinners had worked for the CIA since June 2003 and did not deny also
working for the Khan network.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/report-3-swiss-to-avoid-trial-in-politically-sensitive-nuclear-smuggling-case/2011/11/13/gIQAjfk5HN_story.html

November 14, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, Switzerland