A UK court has sentenced two arms dealers, David Greenhalgh and Christos Farmakis, to 16 years in prison for attempting to sell fighter jets and other weapons to Libya and South Sudan. The duo was found guilty of arranging illicit deals for weapons, including Soviet-era surface-to-air missiles and combat aircraft. Greenhalgh, 68, and Farmakis, 48, were convicted of 10 and nine counts, respectively, of supplying arms without a license between 2009 and 2016.
According to prosecutors, the two men had planned to sell arms to Libya in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. Their attempts to supply arms to the country and South Sudan were in breach of a British arms export ban. The court heard that Greenhalgh and Farmakis had cultivated close relationships with high-ranking figures in South Sudan, which was then a semi-autonomous region within Sudan.
The two men were also found to have arranged deals to supply arms to Iran, Iraq, and Syria, all in contravention of arms embargoes. Farmakis was arrested in 2016 after using his work email address to secretly arrange arms deals. His email account contained documents detailing plans to sell fighter jets and other arms to Libya.
Prosecutor Edmund Bourke told the court that the two men had sought to profit from the sale of arms, disregarding the export ban. The court heard that one of the deals involved the sale of an Ukrainian S-125 Pechora missile system to South Sudan. The system was sold despite a British ban on arms exports to the region.
Judge Sally-Anne Hils stated that the two men had shown no remorse for their actions and had instead sought to justify their crimes. The court found that Greenhalgh and Farmakis had broken the law with the intention of making large profits. The sentence was handed down at Southwark Crown Court in London.
The case highlights the ongoing issue of illicit arms dealing and the challenges faced by countries in enforcing arms export bans. Libya and South Sudan have both experienced significant instability and conflict in recent years, and the attempted sale of arms to these countries has raised concerns about the potential for further violence and instability.
The UK government's efforts to crack down on illicit arms dealing have been welcomed by anti-arms trade campaigners. The sentence handed down to Greenhalgh and Farmakis serves as a warning to others who would seek to engage in similar activities.
Key points
- Two UK-based arms dealers were sentenced to 16 years in prison for attempting to sell fighter jets and other weapons to Libya and South Sudan.
- The duo was found guilty of arranging illicit deals for weapons, including Soviet-era surface-to-air missiles and combat aircraft.
- The case highlights the ongoing issue of illicit arms dealing and the challenges faced by countries in enforcing arms export bans.
