BAE Systems AGM, 9 May. Some shareholders are confused about the legality of their profits. Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) organised a protest outside, and difficult questions inside the AGM. The last question came from South African Andrew Feinstein who resigned as an ANC MP in 2001 when the Pretoria government refused to allow a full investigation into corruption allegations relating to a £5m arms deal involving BAE Systems.
Following their stunning defeat in the British high court (see last issue), arms manufacturer BAE Systems suffered another reverse on 12 May (just three days after their AGM) when chief executive Mike Turner and non-executive director Nigel Rudd were arrested by US officials as they landed at Houston airport.
The US Department of Justice, which is investigating possible corruption in BAE’s £43bn al-Yamamah arms deal with Saudi Arabia, seized laptops, BlackBerries and documents, and served subpoenas on the two BAE Systems board members.