Thales offices in three countries searched over suspected corruption
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Authorities in France, the Netherlands, and Spain conducted the searches between Wednesday and Friday.
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French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Ukrainian former Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov sign an agreement with Chairman and CEO of Thales Group Patrice Caine at Thales radar factory in Limours, southwest Paris, France on February 1, 2023. (AP)
French defense manufacturer Thales has had its offices in three countries raided by police this week for suspected corruption in arms sales overseas, particularly to Brazil, a judicial source revealed Saturday.
Authorities in France, the Netherlands, and Spain conducted the searches between Wednesday and Friday, according to an AFP source who confirmed a claim by French network BFMTV.
According to the source, the police searches were the result of two distinct investigations.
The first, which began at the end of 2016, was an investigation into potential foreign official corruption, criminal association, and money laundering involving submarine sales and the building of a naval facility in Brazil.
The second, which began in June 2023, dealt with similar offenses related to the international sale of military and civilian goods, according to the source.
Thales has yet to respond to inquiries for clarification.
In 2022, three NGOs took legal action in France against the companies of Dassault, Thales, and MBDA France. The companies are accused of complicity in war crimes due to their arms sales contracts to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which used the weapons against Yemeni civilians in the Saudi-led aggression on Yemen.
A member of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), Canel Lavit, who is also one of the civil parties that filed a complaint against the three companies, explained that "export arms to the coalition (led by Saudi Arabia), knowing that she has been committing war crimes since 2015 in Yemen.” These companies are also accused of complicity in crimes against humanity.
In November, activists from Palestine Action, a network that directly attacks Israeli weapon factories across the UK, put up a demonstration in support of Palestine by blocking the entrance to UAV Tactical Systems (U-TacS), a company owned by Elbit Systems, the largest Israeli arms manufacturer.
They reportedly laid themselves down in front of cars and chained themselves to a van at the entryway.
Palestine Action reported that U-TacS is a joint venture between Elbit Systems and Thales, a French arms company, and added that their demonstration was a "concrete form of solidarity with the Palestinians under attack, while Western governments insist on supporting "Israel" to the hilt despite growing public opposition."
