Germany: five people were sentenced for violating sanctions against Russia

The Hamburg Regional Court in Germany has sentenced five people accused of violating the sanctions regime against Russia.

This was reported by AFP. The five defendants were charged with violating the Foreign Trade Act by exporting electrical components and laboratory equipment to Russia between 2022 and 2023.

According to the indictment, the defendants included the director, a shareholder, and an employee of a company from Hamburg who, along with other individuals, organized, executed, and concealed illegal deliveries to Russia and their payments.

Among other things, the defendants sold electrical circuits, plugs, amplifiers, and laboratory centrifuges to Russia. One of the routes that allowed them to evade sanctions against Moscow was Hong Kong.

The five defendants received varying sentences, ranging from six months suspended to four and a half years in prison. The court also ordered the confiscation of more than 900,000 euros in proceeds of crime.

Earlier, it was reported that a German court had decided to open criminal proceedings against two former executives of German engineering giant Siemens, who are accused of violating sanctions by facilitating the export of gas turbines to Russian-occupied Crimea.

In 2024, customs officers in Nuremberg, Germany, detained a Russian citizen who was suspected of evading sanctions.