Wednesday, July 2, 2008

German Company Stops Printing Money for Zimbabwe's Government

WSCF applauds German company's halt of Zimbabwean money deliveries

2 July 2008

WSCF has applauded the news that German company Giesecke & Devrient will halt its production of banknotes, which had been being used to pay Mugabe's Zanu PF government officials and their militia. In a press statement released yesterday, the Management Board of Giesecke & Devrient GmbH, Munich announced their decision to cease delivering banknote paper to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe with immediate effect. Over the last several weeks, WSCF has joined German human rights and civil society organisations in an advocacy campaign to show the German people that German company G&D banknotes were being used by the Zanu PF government to fund the corruption and violence currently being inflicted on the people of Zimbabwe.A letter was sent by WSCF’s Zimbabwe Advocacy desk last week, calling on the German people, their government and the company itself to immediately stop the production and delivery of banknotes. The letter followed on from an earlier letter sent by WSCF General Secretary Michael Wallace, which had called for the same action.The G&D company’s press statement cited its reasons for halting production of the Zimbabwean banknotes as being “in response to an official request from the German government and calls for international sanctions by the European Union and United Nations.” "Our decision is a reaction to the political tension in Zimbabwe, which is mounting significantly rather than easing as expected, and takes account of the critical evaluation by the international community, German government and general public," explained Dr. Karsten Ottenberg, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of Giesecke & Devrient GmbH.

The full text of the letter sent to the company from the World Student Christian Federation follows below.

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