Oh. I was told wanted to be a teacher. He was studying at the scene up a Teacher Training College in the mexican state of get a little. But one bullet changed everything. This footage shows the fateful moment. Ill go and around 50 other students had commandeered public buses to get back to the college after a demonstration such actions arent unusual in parts of mexico. Suddenly Police Stopped the bus and then opened fire on the armed students hit by a bullet although fell to the ground. 6 students were shot dead 2 more were seriously wounded. 43 students all each between 18 and 23 were abducted theyve never been seen since just like thousands of others in mexico. A number of Police Officers were subsequently arrested accused of carrying out the murders a number of the weapons used in those crimes were German Military grade g 36 assault rifles made by a heckler and koch. But the German Government hadnt approved their export to this region so how did they get there. A court in the city of took up the case the almost year long trial was germanys most detailed investigation of an arms deal to date. The verdict surprised many. In the case was initially brought so you can question a prominent opponent of germanys arms industry the manager simply walked away free thats the big scandals improve far too close judicial system so where the managers of heckler and koch not responsible for the illegal weapons deal in the up. And you know the court. Dockets im going to have the conviction in this chamber that there was insufficient evidence to suggest the other defendants took part in the crimes i didnt. Think that. Were. So what actually happened it all began in 2005 german arms manufacturer heckler and koch wanted to export thousands of g 36. 00 assault rifles to mexico along with submachine guns so the company submitted an application to the German Economics Ministry in berlin but the Foreign Ministry expressed concern citing Human Rights Violations by Mexican Security forces including abductions and murder and get a handle and other states. The Economics Ministry sought a compromise. Meanwhile a heckler and koch was waiting impatiently for permission to export as the companys then Sales Representative from mexico explains. We can only identify him as marcus b. And then come to be deformed over here with and asked by sounds whether we could change the designated and use a difficult because some ministry had requested that certain aspects shouldnt be mentioned and. Techno and call had originally presented this and you certificate from the Mexican Defense ministry to the German Economics Ministry. The details of the certificate showed clearly that the weapons were partly intended for mexican states considered particularly dangerous. You may occasionally play for him so i wrote an email to my wife from the computer. I had. To ask the head of de camp the official body responsible for arms sales in mexico whether it was possible not to name these 3 states and to issue a new and use so once the Economics Ministry had informed heckler and koch which mexican states would not be approved the company submitted a new end you certificate where the critical states were no longer mentioned but the strange thing was the exact same number of guns would still be supplied to mexico which surely should have been noticed. But approval for the export was given and the deal began. Over the following years a team from heckler and koch travelled all over mexico showing Police Officers in the army how to use the firearms. Here they arent colima but they also went to the states that were supposedly banned including get a table where the weapons would soon be used. On the 19 year old. For example. This was him dancing at his brothers wedding just days before Security Forces would destroy his life forever. Dont tell me he was a clever child really bright he was always keen to see everything and to learn thats why he went to college now last call. Details of that night haunt the family. Brother lay on their tells us what happened. I do know a number of pastors who was in the 1st one was when the attack started they were already heading back to the college in was the 1st the police started pursuing them then a Police Vehicle and along absolute junction i had to stop them leaving the city. In this about the yeah so the students got out of the box ill know it was one of the 1st to get out he wanted to talk to the police who were blocking the road in the hope that they could proceed or not the police immediately started shooting but i have. The other students got off the buses and started filming with their cell phones when i was hit by a bullet the other screamed for help. They called an ambulance for their friend while running for cover themselves more shots fell. That same night all those family rushed to the hospital in one but. I saw him and he had a bullet wound to his head the bullet went in here and came out here. Drug cartels kill thousands in mexico every year but the Security Forces are also responsible for many deaths. One of the heckler and koch instructors started to have doubts. In 2010 he testified to state prosecutors against his former employer heckler and koch. It was a damning indictment of colleagues and managers. That led to 2 police raids on the Company Premises and a mammoth investigation. Or and loses it opens 8 long years from the start of the investigation to the trial my opening in my 2080 or so i think the world. In 2018 the largest trial of its kind in german postwar history finally got underway. Trial observers took detailed minutes. Yarn fun aachen was one of them. He was previously a weapons inspector for the United Nations and a member of the german parliament. I remember 3 things from the 1st day firstly the charges were read out which included conspiring to commit crimes the 2nd was that the 2 main suspects were not in the room which one has since died but the other was half of the cooks mexico representative who lives in mexico and was allegedly not well enough to travel. So his trial was separated off. With. The defendants included ex c. E. O. Peter biola and another former heckler and koch c. E. O. To pass employees from the marketing division. The company heckler and koch itself as a codefendant and a secretary from the export department and the 3rd thing i remember was the initial statements given by the accused where it was totally clear they had no sense of guilt and i think they were really serious about that. The argument was they had received approval for exports to mexico and it was so they export it to mexico they couldnt work out why they were in court that. In the end you certificate is the centerpiece of germanys arms control mechanism in this document the buyer declares where the weapons will be delivered and where they will be used ruling out that they will end up anywhere else several different ministries examine the application under the direction of the Economics Ministry. The governments export control office boffa then takes care of the licensing procedure. Noida bought it off was president obama for 10 years. Hes well acquainted with the procedures and knows those who worked in the Economics Ministry during the period in question. It they thought of the head that id call a good as the in the head and cock case the colleague involved at the Economics Ministry was not someone who exercised any particularly critical judgment in that regard. Shall we say to the point of. That official who was in a senior position in the Economics Ministry was one of the 1st witnesses to be called his testimony got off to an uncomfortable start. Thats why you look if the art form for the witness was asked by the presiding judge to disclose what the mexico deal was on about he answered one moment and put a huge briefcase on the table guns he pulled out an entire file therefore there was mounted in the the judge asked him what he was doing he said i need to find on the investigation to get the indictment theyre going to start some knowledge of theyre going to you can see the faces of the state prosecutors turning red because thats not a lot of it is and he does i so the witness in a German Criminal Court case hes holding the indictment in his hands the antler usually fit in. But that wasnt the end of it during questioning the witness revealed that the other ministries also had access to the confidential files. But where they came from that bit he could remember is that the u. N. He actually stated in court we call the ministry for the economy we have a special interest in ensuring that these manufacturers can survive economically thats from the man responsible for regulating urns exports for. For decades heckler and koch has been a key supplier to the German Armed Forces and the police its considered to have systemic relevance. So does the Economics Ministry give special treatment to a company like that. We decided to ask a former economics minister is it my god were. Going to give vishal began his statement by saying we are the ministry for the economy is the and so the Ministry Wants this key manufacture to survive. Yeah thats true but the export guidelines state that when it comes to arms exports are economic considerations and jobs are not to play around with the kind of whats the legal position and i hope the court is familiar with the export of hi clients. Back to the courtroom under further questioning by the presiding judge the official from the economics minister stated from the witness stand that human rights were more a work of endeavor in the us to mention these are the people charged with safeguarding our highest value namely human rights in all constitutions in our constitution and they see it merely as a work of endeavor so if it happens to suit then well include that in it but otherwise were not interested in the. Human rights as a work of endeavor. Thats not with the approval guidelines set up by the government state. Actually they arent glued with descendants but this question the human rights situation in the recipient country plays a prominent role of the really also coming from a legal background its clear that its an absolute test criterion and a deal breaking criteria is less clear to you. And indeed the official from the Economics Ministry admitted himself while testifying to the Customs Investigation Bureau that he realized the firearms had only been excluded from parts of mexico on paper. But the economics minister denies any wrongdoing. The ministrys main contact at heckling cost was paid for by a lawyer he was in the darkest regard but he was acquitted. Well day 2 of the trial peter buyer list stated that these and you certificates are and i quote the wrong instruments owned ineffective me give our gift. This supposedly wrong instrument has for decades been the basis for all of germanys arms exports. Peter by other had been the head judge of the District Court before moving to heckler and koch initially he was the companys Liaison Officer for the authorities and then later c. E. O. Throughout he was responsible for export applications and end use agreements. The export control office buffa also understands that the end use agreement is a binding document hed fight snuff they for shooting 2 are often standing of the law and use it difficult is an integrity part of the licensing. Yet veteran legal expert peter buying up argued in court that and you certificates are not decisive for arms exports and he claimed to know nothing of the reworked certificate from mexico but his correspondence with a chummy official at the Economics Ministry tells a different story. As i was aware of this email before its completely clear here the Economics Ministry is telling heckler and koch you cant export to these mexican states but these other ones are ok and yet in the trial all those involved maintained repeatedly that there had never been a list of positive and negative states its absurd that this is only turned up now. But thats not all. When the approval of arms exports to mexico did not appear forthcoming by a lot email colleagues suggesting they pursued what he called the political route. The company made donations to the constituency offices of influential politicians. We tried to speak to peter by a lawyer to with the emerge from the court one day. And his lawyer due to push creedon felt blocked our cameramen pulling out the sound cable. Peter biola began brandishing his briefcase and his lawyer continued to attempt to obstruct us. Mr buyer what do you know about the Party Donations about heckler and koch. They were clearly not willing to talk about donations to politicians. In mexico meanwhile the families of the 43 missing students are still searching for the bodies of their loved ones. More than 60000 people are classified as missing in mexico presumed dead. And the appearance of the stones help us to locate graves. You can see these stones were previously underground. So we know the ground has been dug over here you see the difference in the color the stone was on the surface the other one was buried deeper. The remains of clothing are scattered across the site a putrid smell hangs in the air. That i love when i still hope that my son will walk through the door one day. One of the pain is unbearable. It just hurts so much. But im not giving up not until i found my son you are then every time i come up to these hills even though im sick i still forget my illness because i want to find out something about my son. Mexico has never forgotten the missing student teachers. For more than 5 years thousands of people have been taking to the streets every month to demand answers. They include families and friends of the 43. 00 students who disappeared. Human rights lawyer sophia there will be no represents the familys im an attorney of the miguel gusen for a lot of Human Rights Center and her India Company i was not a case for 4 years we represent relatives of the 43 students who disappeared on the 26th of september 2040 as well as the students who were executed and also those who were injured that night. Tennyson lama is one of my clients i will be honest im not. Even travelling in the crisis 20 state of get red always dangerous the lawyer takes us to all those family. Civilian militia groups have taken control of the roads and levy socalled customs duties. Were at the mercy of the local commanders. One of them. When they spot our camera things get a bit edgy. That. Get red always been scarred by the drug war by violence and corruption. The good to get us family is taken care of although in this house built with donations. Which we have suffered a lot as a family because we have to struggle with everything. Ultimately we wish for nothing more than to see this it all of the little lively guy again who have lost and went on. This. The family still clings to the hope that ill double get well again even if this is medically impossible. Well you could check if you tell me this most of all. He listens closely. Sometimes he opens his eyes were talk to him and then he closes 100 here. We take a paratha view of the i am with all that every day we come here and we take care of him. All day and all night we take care of him and yes if you can hear now and he responds to. Does he respond to you yes generally just yesterday he moved his finger there though he was a lawyer he still moves. The hopes of a mother. The hopes of a family. Of old girl we are hearing looks that i am of which we miss him very much. The whole family loves him so much. Is that the man is all those thats why its so hard for us to see the change that hes undergone. I wont abandon you on the will i be with you no matter what us is us. Meanwhile the trial in stuttgart was continuing. Evidence was presented in the court called dozens of witnesses. Then on the 20th day something completely unexpected happened and suddenly the number was clear 15000 emails had slipped through that created a bit of a shock up there in the bench they realized they suddenly had a lot of documents here that hadnt been included in the proceedings at all. An investigation was launched into the missing emails where were they then the name of an Auditing Company came up k p m g. Then it turned out the Customs Criminal Investigation Office leading the investigation had received the emails that the documents for k. P. And g. But they had already been filtered and sorted. Heckler and koch called in k p m g shortly after police searched headquarters. Part of their task was to evaluate the stats Electronic Communications marcos being with the company Sales Representative in mexico. Or in car had asked kate p. M. G. To carry out an internal voluntary investigation. Comprehensible which is why its enough for the prosecutor to investigate the police and so on. K p m g as one of the worlds 4 largest auditing companies. The internal investigation was supposed to support the Customs Criminal Investigation Office and rittenberg state criminal Police Office and the Public Prosecutors Office. Voice still represents mark wispy and is critical of the fact that the state investigators had agreed to cooperate with the private auditors. The system long the one hand it is not justi