German prosecutors are probing leading exporter ND SatCom for supplying communications equipment to Myanmar’s junta after sanctions were imposed.
ND SatCom GmbH manufactures satellite-based broadband VSAT moderns and broadcast, government and defense communication networks.
The criminal investigation follows a complaint filed by Germany Solidarity with Myanmar Democracy with the attorney Holger Rothbauer, based on Justice For Myanmar (JFM) research.
ND SatCom has allegedly provided significant support for the military’s satellite communications since 2016, including 5G satellite hardware and software for use in the military’s Meikhtila system, including battlefield networks.
JFM provided evidence to German publications ZDF Frontal and Der Spiegel of more than 40 deliveries, including satellite modems and software, which apparently avoided sanctions.
The corporation’s satellite modems were sent to the military’s Directorate of Procurement from Vietnam in October 2021 after the coup in February.
Terabit Wave Company Limited in Myanmar brokered the equipment in partnership with the Vietnamese firm, OSB Investment and Technology.
U Tay Za Tun and Daw Thuzar Khin are the directors of Terabit Wave, a subsidiary of the military-linked A1 Group of Companies.
OSB claims to be a leader in defense communications with a research and development program.
They both operate a joint venture in Myanmar, Com and Com Company Limited, which provides military and civilian satellite services, including the maintenance of ND SatCom equipment for the military.
ND SatCom appointed Terabit Wave as its dealer to sell satellite communications equipment in Myanmar and to negotiate and sign contracts. The authorization was part of a 2019 contract between Terabit Wave and the directorate involving Com and Com, which was leaked to JFM.
The rights group welcomed the investigation by the state prosecutor’s office in Ravensburg in southern Germany and called for the authorities to block junta access to German equipment and technology.
It said satellite communications are essential for junta command and control, supporting indiscriminate killing, torture, rape, the razing of villages, destruction of food and forced displacement.
Ma Yadanar Maung of JFM said: “Germany must show that breaches of the law will not be tolerated and we call on other EU member states whose companies have illegally transferred arms, equipment and technology to investigate and hold them accountable.”
She added that both Germany and the EU have laws to prevent the arms and dual-use goods being exported to Myanmar’s junta but governments have repeatedly failed to enforce the rules.
“Equipment and technology support war crimes and crimes against humanity,” she said.
ND SatCom equipment has been supplied to the junta via the Singapore companies Bright Sky Pte Ltd and Interspace Engineering Services Pte Ltd.
Bright Sky Group is an A1 subsidiary which faced sanctions this year after JFM named it as an arms broker.
Interspace Engineering is owned by Nguyen Hong Son who is the co-founder, chair and chief executive of OSB and a Com and Com director.
JFM said Vietnam and Singapore are both ASEAN members who voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution calling on “all member states to prevent the flow of arms to Myanmar”.
It called on Singapore to investigate Bright Sky and Interspace for supplying dual-use goods to Myanmar through the city-state.
