Urs Tinner, alleged Khan middleman, is free — according to AP:
A Swiss man suspected of involvement in the world’s biggest nuclear smuggling ring has been released from prison after more than four years of investigative detention, his family said Sunday.
Urs Tinner, 43, was freed several days ago, his mother, Hedwig Tinner, said by telephone from eastern Switzerland.
His brother Marco Tinner, 40, remains in detention while prosecutors appeal his release to the federal criminal court in Bellinzona, she said, declining to comment further.
Pretrial detention is no picnic, but it is shocking to me that not a single one of the alleged Khan middleman has done a day in prison after a conviction — with the possible exception of Gotthard Lerch. That one I am still not sure about.
Spirit of Present Christmas | December 29, 2008
At least Urs got to spend Xmas with his mom. Touching.
This is what happens when you are a good boy and cooperate with…you know.
You can enjoy holidays and have incriminating documents shredded under the auspices of the Swiss government and under the oversight of the IAEA on the grounds of…combatting proliferation (!!) because these documents were proliferation sensitive.
Who’s naughty and nice. Ho-ho-ho-ho
Martin Dirksen | December 30, 2008
Dear Jeffrey,
Concerning Mister Lech the following article might be of interest:
http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/tid-12162/prozess-verworrene-pfade-der-atomschmuggler_aid_341348.html
It tells us ( though in German) that Mister Lech was sentenced for 5 and a half years. He did not have to go to jail because he collaborated with the court and he was in Pretrial detention before.
Yours
M.Dirksen
Alex W. | January 4, 2009
There’s a wonderful, Le Carré-like feel to the whole Khan affair. Everybody gets together, claims to be doing a lot of good, puts the “dope on the table,” and then, once the heat of the moment has passed and all of the back-patting has finished, everybody publicly implicated quietly gets off the hook, because a genuine prosecution might end up going in some undesirable directions.
(Or maybe I feel this way because I just finished reading The Night Manager.)