W. German Gets 5 Years for Role in Libyan Plant

A West German businessman was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison on Wednesday for helping Libya build a plant the court said was “clearly intended” to produce chemical weapons.

Juergen Hippenstiel-Imhausen, described by prosecutors as a “merchant of death,” was found guilty by a state court in Mannheim of violating West German export laws. He was also found guilty on charges of tax evasion of $11.7 million. That charge was based on his failure to report profits from the plant project.

Chief Judge Juergen Henninger said that based on expert-witness testimony, the court concluded that the plant in Rabta “was clearly intended for the production of chemical warfare agents.”

He said the plant was capable of producing mustard gas and other poison gases and that Hippenstiel-Imhausen was aware of its purpose before he signed a contract in 1984 to build it for Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi.

Libya maintains the plant was intended to make pharmaceuticals and insecticides, not weapons.

Hippenstiel-Imhausen, 49, confessed on June 13 at his trial to helping design, build and supply the facility, but he did not say that he knew the plant was for poison gas. He apologized for causing “diplomatic problems” for West Germany.

The case was a major embarrassment for the West German government, which initially denied that West German firms were involved.

Henninger sentenced Hippenstiel-Imhausen to the maximum three years for violation of export laws and four years for tax evasion, then reduced it to a total of five years.

He said he cut the sentence because the defendant had shown remorse and confessed to his part in building the plant and to the tax evasion charges.

He will eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of his term.