dbo:abstract
- Der Bofors-Skandal war ein großer Korruptionsskandal, der die indische und in geringerem Maße auch die schwedische Innenpolitik ab 1987 beschäftigte. In der Amtszeit von Premierminister Rajiv Gandhi, dem Sohn der früheren indischen Ministerpräsidentin Indira Gandhi, plante das indische Verteidigungsministerium 1986 den Kauf von 410 155-mm-Feldhaubitzen vom Typ Haubits FH-77B des schwedischen Rüstungsherstellers Bofors AB im Wert von insgesamt 1,4 Milliarden US-Dollar.Mit einer Radiosendung in Schweden kam der Skandal am 16. April 1987 ins Rollen. Berichten der schwedischen Tageszeitung Dagens Nyheter zufolge soll Bofors dabei 40 Millionen US-Dollar als „Kickback-Provisionen“ (Schmiergelder) über Schweizer Bankkonten an indische Persönlichkeiten gezahlt haben, um seinen französischen Wettbewerber zu übertreffen. (de)
- The Bofors scandal was a major weapons-contract political scandal that occurred between India and Sweden during the 1980s and 1990s, initiated by Indian National Congress politicians and implicating the Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, and several other members of the Indian and Swedish governments who were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB, an arms manufacturer principally financed by the Wallenberg family's Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, for winning a bid to supply to India their 155 mm field howitzer. The scandal relates to illegal kickbacks paid in a US$1.4-billion deal between the Swedish arms manufacturer Bofors with the government of India for the sale of 410 field howitzer guns, and a supply contract almost twice that amount. It was the biggest arms deal ever in Sweden, and money marked for development projects was diverted to secure this contract at any cost. The investigations revealed flouting of rules and bypassing of institutions. On 16 April 1987, a Swedish radio station broke out a story based on a whistleblower in the Swedish police, alleging that the reputed Swedish artillery manufacturer Bofors had paid kickbacks to people in several countries, including Sweden and India, to secure a ₹15 billion (equivalent to ₹170 billion or US$2.2 billion in 2020) contract. This had been done the previous year for a deal to supply 410 155 mm calibre howitzer guns for the Indian army. However, none of the newspapers in India were aware of this. In May 1987, a broadcast by a Swedish radio station revealed that bribes of ₹600 million (equivalent to ₹6.9 billion or US$87 million in 2020) had been paid by Bofors to Indian politicians, members of the Congress party and bureaucrats. This was picked up by a young journalist from The Hindu, Chitra Subramaniam, who happened to be in Sweden at that time, covering another story. The scale of the corruption was far worse than any that Sweden and India had seen before and directly led to the defeat of Gandhi's ruling Indian National Congress party in the November 1989 general elections. The Swedish company paid ₹640 million (US$8.0 million) in kickbacks to top Indian politicians and key defence officials. The case came into light during Vishwanath Pratap Singh's tenure as defence minister, and was revealed through investigative journalism tipped off by a Reuters news revelation on Swedish radio, followed up by a team led by N. Ram of the newspaper The Hindu. The journalist who secured the over 350 documents that detailed the payoffs was Chitra Subramaniam reporting for The Hindu. Later the articles were published in The Indian Express and The Statesman when The Hindu stopped publishing stories about the Bofors scandal under immense government pressure and Chitra Subramaniam moved to the two newspapers. In an interview with her, published in The Hoot in April 2012 on the 25th anniversary of the revelations, Sten Lindstrom, former chief of Swedish police, discussed why he leaked the documents to her and the role of whistle-blowers in a democracy. (en)
- L'affaire Bofors est une importante affaire de corruption qui eut lieu en Inde en 1986. (fr)
- Boforsaffären är ett samlingsnamn för två vapenaffärer som vapentillverkaren Bofors var inblandad i och som upptäcktes under 1980-talet. Det gäller dels smuggling av vapen, dels påståenden att Bofors skulle ha använts sig av mutor för att få sälja haubitser till Indien. (sv)
- Дело «Бофорса» — громкий коррупционный скандал в Индии и Швеции в 1980-е годы, результатом которого стало внесение оружейной компании «Бофорс» в «чёрный список» компаний и поражение партии Раджива Ганди «Индийский национальный конгресс» на выборах. (ru)
- Справа «Бофорса» — гучний корупційний скандал в Індії та Швеції в 1980-і роки, результатом якого стало внесення виробника зброї «Бофорс» до «чорного списку» підприємств і поразки партії Раджива Ганді «Індійський національний конгрес» на виборах. (uk)
rdfs:comment
- L'affaire Bofors est une importante affaire de corruption qui eut lieu en Inde en 1986. (fr)
- Boforsaffären är ett samlingsnamn för två vapenaffärer som vapentillverkaren Bofors var inblandad i och som upptäcktes under 1980-talet. Det gäller dels smuggling av vapen, dels påståenden att Bofors skulle ha använts sig av mutor för att få sälja haubitser till Indien. (sv)
- Дело «Бофорса» — громкий коррупционный скандал в Индии и Швеции в 1980-е годы, результатом которого стало внесение оружейной компании «Бофорс» в «чёрный список» компаний и поражение партии Раджива Ганди «Индийский национальный конгресс» на выборах. (ru)
- Справа «Бофорса» — гучний корупційний скандал в Індії та Швеції в 1980-і роки, результатом якого стало внесення виробника зброї «Бофорс» до «чорного списку» підприємств і поразки партії Раджива Ганді «Індійський національний конгрес» на виборах. (uk)
- Der Bofors-Skandal war ein großer Korruptionsskandal, der die indische und in geringerem Maße auch die schwedische Innenpolitik ab 1987 beschäftigte. In der Amtszeit von Premierminister Rajiv Gandhi, dem Sohn der früheren indischen Ministerpräsidentin Indira Gandhi, plante das indische Verteidigungsministerium 1986 den Kauf von 410 155-mm-Feldhaubitzen vom Typ Haubits FH-77B des schwedischen Rüstungsherstellers Bofors AB im Wert von insgesamt 1,4 Milliarden US-Dollar.Mit einer Radiosendung in Schweden kam der Skandal am 16. April 1987 ins Rollen. Berichten der schwedischen Tageszeitung Dagens Nyheter zufolge soll Bofors dabei 40 Millionen US-Dollar als „Kickback-Provisionen“ (Schmiergelder) über Schweizer Bankkonten an indische Persönlichkeiten gezahlt haben, um seinen französischen Wettbe (de)
- The Bofors scandal was a major weapons-contract political scandal that occurred between India and Sweden during the 1980s and 1990s, initiated by Indian National Congress politicians and implicating the Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, and several other members of the Indian and Swedish governments who were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB, an arms manufacturer principally financed by the Wallenberg family's Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, for winning a bid to supply to India their 155 mm field howitzer. The scandal relates to illegal kickbacks paid in a US$1.4-billion deal between the Swedish arms manufacturer Bofors with the government of India for the sale of 410 field howitzer guns, and a supply contract almost twice that amount. It was the biggest arms deal ever in Swe (en)