TRIAL OF A.Q. KHAN LINKED DEFENDANT GOTTHARD LERCH RESUMES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 FRANKFURT 001817 DEPARTMENT FOR T, EUR, ISN, SCA, AF, EAP SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM MNUC PREL KNNP ETTC KJUS KCRM PREL GM SUBJECT: TRIAL OF A.Q. KHAN LINKED DEFENDANT GOTTHARD LERCH RESUMES REF: A. 07 BERLIN 2239 ¶B. 06 BERLIN 2194 ¶C. 06 BERLIN 1170 FRANKFURT 00001817 001.2 OF 002 Sensitive but unclassified; not for internet distribution. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On June 5, the 4th Senate of the Higher Regional Court (a federal court) in Stuttgart re-opened the trial of Gotthard Lerch, a German engineer allegedly linked to the A.Q. Khan nuclear proliferation network. Lerch is accused of aiding the Libyan government in its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons technology. The trial was suspended in July 2006 by a Mannheim district (state-level) court because of extradition issues and unresolved requests for judicial assistance from Switzerland, Malaysia, Liechtenstein, and South Africa. On the opening day of the trial in Stuttgart, the defense demanded to have the case moved back to Mannheim, calling the acceptance of the case by the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court "illegal" and the court's authority "objectively arbitrary." The trial is expected to last through January 2009. Some media outlets speculate that the case could be dismissed due to lingering problems with evidence and other legal complications. END SUMMARY. New Trial - Old Strategy -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On the opening day of the trial, defense attorneys Gottfried Reims and Christof Pueschel filed a motion arguing that the decision to move the trial to Stuttgart was "illegal" and claiming that the Higher Regional Court was not the competent authority. [NOTE: In 2006, the Federal Prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe formally petitioned to have the case reassigned from the Mannheim district court to the Stuttgart court as the result of changes in German procedural rules that give regional (federal) courts jurisdiction over violations of the Foreign Trade and Payments Act (FTPA) and War Weapons Control Act (WWCA). END NOTE.] Before Wolfgang Siegmund of the Federal Prosecutor's Office could read the indictment, the defense requested that the case be moved back to the Mannheim court. Lerch's attorneys also made clear that their client will not testify in the trial. In a second motion, both attorneys requested to have the complete trial taped, something the prosecution opposes. The judge will rule on the motions at the next session on June 12. ¶3. (SBU) Lerch's attorneys appear to be pursuing the same strategy they employed in 2006, when the case against Lerch was still under the jurisdiction of the Mannheim court. Lerch was released following fourteen months of pretrial detention when the Mannheim court suspended the trial in July 2006. The court cited missing files and concerns over Germany's extradition law. At that time, his lawyers argued that the Mannheim court did not have the legal competence to conduct the trial and insisted it be moved to a specialized court in Konstanz. This time, prosecutors argued that the procedural changes that allow the Federal Prosecutor's Office to take on cases of special importance -- including violations of the FTPA and WWCA -- were adopted specifically for the Lerch case, a charge which the prosecution staunchly denies. The judge will rule on both motions this week. Given that the procedural changes were institutionalized in the so-called "Second Judicial Modernization Law," the defense argument appears to have a weak legal basis for challenging the Stuttgart court's authority. Lerch: A Danger to Germany's National Security? -------------- -- ¶4. (SBU) Lerch stands accused of violating both the FTPA and the WWCA. The sixty-five year old engineer currently lives in Switzerland, but appeared in court on the first day of the trial. The prosecution argues that he endangered the external security of the Federal Republic of Germany, jeopardized international peace, and damaged Germany's international reputation. Lerch is accused of hiring a friend in South Africa to produce a system of tubing for a Libyan enrichment facility designed to produce weapons-grade uranium. Lerch is alleged to have worked with Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Quader Kahn. Prosecutors claim he received 55 million German marks for his work. ¶5. (SBU) Three experts on nuclear technology were present at the opening and will testify in the trial. One of the three, Horst Puettner, originally examined material found and confiscated by U.S. forces on a German cargo ship (BBC China) bound for Libya in 2003. The detention of the ship in 2003 was followed a short time later by the Libyan government's announcement that it would abandon its FRANKFURT 00001817 002.2 OF 002 nuclear program. In a written statement, Puettner concluded that the materials found on the ship were intended for the production of nuclear weapons. ¶6. (SBU) Several media sources have speculated that the case will be dismissed due to a lack of evidence. Newspapers have reported rumors that the Swiss government destroyed key files in the case at the request of the U.S. government. According to the papers, the CIA worked with Lerch and his associates to gain information on Libya's nuclear program and, in return, helped Lerch and his associates evade prosecution. ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: The opening of the trial revealed that Lerch's attorneys plan to use similar tactics as in earlier phases of the trial, once again employing legal nuances to question the courts authority. Both the defense and the prosecution expect the trial to last at least eighteen months. END COMMENT. ¶8. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Berlin. POWELL