Boeremag: 'Prosecutor must go'

2003-08-12 15:04

Pretoria - Seventeen of the 22 Boeremag treason trialists on Tuesday questioned the integrity of chief prosecutor Paul Fick, SC, and asked for his recusal from the Pretoria High Court case.

They accused him of trying to obstruct their right to freely consult their legal representatives, and expressed the fear that he might also try to undermine other rights during the course of the trial.

Piet Pistorius, for the 17, accused Fick of vindictiveness in a successful high court application in April by the trialists to be held in the same prison to simplify consultation with their legal representatives.

They were, at the time, being held in different prisons across Gauteng.

Pistorius said Fick went back on an undertaking not to oppose the application - instead handing in a sworn statement describing the matter as devoid of merit.

The judge who heard that application, Fanie Mynhardt, accused the investigating officer, Superintendent Louis Bester, of lying to the court and criticised Fick for associating himself with Bester's evidence.

Pistorius pointed out that a prosecutor's role was not to secure a conviction but to help the court ascertain the truth. It was his duty to reveal evidence to the court that was to the benefit of the accused.

The trialists feared Fick would not fulfill that duty, Pistorius contended.

"If a senior advocate tries to infringe on my clients' entrenched right to consultation with their counsel, how can they expect that he would fulfill his duty of disclosure?"

"Advocate Fick has already shown where his sentiments and loyalties lie. How can the accused expect that he will conduct the prosecution in an objective way?"

In the morning, Judge Eben Jordaan dismissed a special plea by 13 of the trialists that the court had no jurisdiction over them.

He said the men's arguments that certain people were bound to the Constitution and others not did not hold water and would have chaotic results.

Had their plea succeeded, the 13 would have sought the continuation of their trial before an ad hoc international tribunal. But Jordaan said no South African court had the authority to make such an order.

The 22 men stand accused of planning to overthrow the government with the aim of declaring a Boer republic.

They face 42 charges, including high treason, terrorism, sabotage, murder, and several firearms and explosives violations.

The 13 claimed the court had no jurisdiction over them due to what they described as flaws in the Constitution-making process.

They contested the legitimacy of the Constitution, the government and its institutions. They claim the 1994 democratic elections were flawed - rendering illegitimate all processes that followed.

The Constitution, the men claim, was certified despite the then parliament suspending its own power to adopt constitutional legislation until the electorate of the day had been consulted on the document's contents.

They accused former president FW de Klerk of reneging on an undertaking to this effect.

Jordaan dismissed all their arguments.

The implication of their contention, the judge said, was that every South African could choose whether or not they regarded themselves as bound by the Constitution.

They could then decide not to pay tax or not to stand trial if they committed an offence. Such a situation would lead to "chaos and anarchy".

The hearing continues.

- SAPA