Maersk fined in Denmark for violating the firearms act

Maersk has been fined nearly USD 12,000 by the Danish financial police for breaching the firearms act by transporting electric batons to Sudan. The Danish company stopped the cargo itself and reported the case to Danish police, writes DanWatch.
Photo: Edgar Su/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix
Photo: Edgar Su/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix

Danish container shipping line Maersk has been fined DKK 75,000 (USD 11,826) by the Danish State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime (SØIK) for breaching the Danish firearms act by transporting 5,000 electric batons to Sudan, writes investigative news media DanWatch.

Maersk discovered the cargo itself on the way to Sudan upon which the shipping line reported the case to Danish police. Meanwhile, Maersk emphasizes that the cargo was never delivered to the customer.

"Maersk took all the necessary steps to ensure that the cargo was not handed over to the Sudanese company but re-exported out of Sudan and disposed of legally," writes senior press officer at Maersk Christian Kjærgaard-Winther in a comment to DanWatch.

Maersk did not want to disclose to DanWatch who ordered the electric batons, who sent them or who produced them.

English Edit: Ida Jacobsen

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