Ban TAC, says Rath

2006-03-09 08:39

Cape Town - Vitamin salesman Matthias Rath on Wednesday renewed his offensive against Aids lobby group the Treatment Action Campaign, saying it should be banned.

The attack, in a 1 798-word statement issued by the Dr Rath Health Foundation, comes less than a week after a full bench of the Cape High Court granted the TAC an interim interdict against Rath and the foundation.

The interdict - which bars Rath from claiming the TAC is a front for the pharmaceutical industry - is the precursor to a TAC defamation action against the German.

The foundation statement, however, hailed the ruling as a "historic verdict", saying it had exposed "one of the most appalling ... activities in SA since the end of apartheid".

"The democratically elected government of SA is being forced by pressure groups - largely financed by foreign money - to distribute toxic ARV drugs to millions of Aids patients," it said.

The statement also claimed the judges had affirmed that "the applicant destabilises democracy in South Africa".

Rath, foundation in contempt of court?

The so-called "affirmation" appears to have been taken by the foundation verbatim from the judges' list of Rath statements the TAC wanted protection against.

The judges found TAC had as a matter of deliberate policy not received money from drug companies.

Without having seen the full statement, TAC spokesperson Mark Heywood said on Wednesday night that it appeared that Rath and the foundation could be in contempt of court.

"If there's one word in that press statement that says TAC fronts for pharmaceutical companies, or directly or indirectly suggests that, they're in contempt of court," he said.

Heywood said Rath and the foundation had shown faith in the courts by instituting defamation actions against a number of people and organisations.

"But when the South African legal system goes against them, they fulminate," he said.

Unacceptable judicial censorship

Also on Wednesday, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) condemned the interdict against Rath.

"Misa is alarmed at the continuing actions of the judiciary to impose restrictions on the publication of information which constitutes unacceptable judicial censorship," Misa said.

Misa is a non-governmental organisation with members in 11 Southern African Development Community countries that says it focuses on promoting "free, independent and pluralistic media".

It said the effect of the interdict, granted by a full bench last Friday, was "no different" to others imposed by the South African judiciary preventing the publication of the Mohammed cartoons and information about the Oilgate scandal.

"Though Misa holds no brief for Rath and his questionable allegedly anti HIV-Aids conduct, the manner in which he has been restrained from making public statements, offends against the principle of free speech and freedom of expression."

The statement said TAC had "another more appropriate remedy" to deal with Rath, and that was to sue him for defamation.

- SAPA