Basson 'won't be tried again'

2004-03-10 10:56

Johannesburg - The State was denied leave by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday to appeal against the acquittal of apartheid-era chemical and biological warfare expert Wouter Basson.

It would, however, be given an opportunity to address constitutional issues arising from a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissal of its application for leave to appeal against the verdict.

Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson said while the application was dismissed, the grounds of the appeal against the SCA judgement raised several constitutional issues. This meant it would have to be pursued.

Chaskalson did not say how this would be done.

The court's unanimous judgement did not decide whether it was in the interests of justice for the application for special leave to appeal to be granted. Further directions would be given by the chief justice for the disposal of the application.

The court held that constitutional issues arose from Judge Willie Hartzenberg's refusal to recuse himself from the trial on the grounds of perceived bias, his failure to admit the bail record in the trial proceedings, and the fact that the State was precluded from prosecuting an accused without the opportunity to appeal a decision of the trial court upholding objections to the charge sheet.

These issues all held constitutional implications, the judges held.

Basson was acquitted in the Pretoria High Court in 2002 on 46 charges - including murder, drug trafficking, fraud and theft.

The SCA dismissed the State's application for leave to appeal -effectively preventing it from instituting a new trial.

- SAPA