/ 5 February 2008

Nuclear trial: Swiss engineer given suspended sentence

A second member of an international nuclear smuggling ring, Swiss engineer Daniel Geiges, was given a suspended sentence by a Pretoria High Court judge on Tuesday.

Judge Willie van der Merwe sentenced the 69-year-old Geiges, who is gravely ill with cancer, to a total of 13 years’ imprisonment but suspended the sentence for five years in terms of a plea-bargain agreement between Geiges and the state.

Geiges also agreed to the confiscation of €50 000 and 74 255 Swiss Francs in cash that is currently frozen by Swiss authorities.

He further agreed to provide the police with statements detailing the full extent of his knowledge of all matters relevant to nuclear proliferation.

He agreed to testify in other proceedings and to cooperate with South African and international nuclear authorities.

Geiges admitted guilt to five charges of contravening the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act and the Nuclear Energy Act.

He admitted he had in the late 1990s and early 2000s been involved in the clandestine illegal import, export and manufacture of components relating to nuclear equipment and material.

He also admitted to an attempt to export nuclear-related equipment.

Geiges’s former boss and co-accused, German engineer Gerhard Wisser (68), was earlier sentenced to three years’ correctional supervision and given the equivalent of a R6-million fine in terms of a plea-bargain agreement with the state. — Sapa