Boeremag trial delayed

2003-05-19 11:11

Pretoria - The treason trial of 22 alleged Boeremag members had still not started by 10:00 on Monday, an hour after the scheduled time.

Those accused who are in custody entered court in Pretoria's Palace of Justice about 09:30, dressed in suits or jackets and ties.

The predominantly white spectators in the packed public gallery rose as the men entered, some of them waving at relatives and friends.

As one of the accused, Jacques Naudé entered to take his place in the dock, his defence counsel told him: "You're lucky, you're one of the few with a reserved seat in the courtroom."

About 10am the legal representatives left the room, apparently for consultations.

Paul Kruger, the attorney who acts for 13 of the accused, said he intended applying for the recusal of prosecutor Paul Fick when the trial got underway.

He said his intention to dispute the jurisdiction of the court would probably stand over until later as he still had not cleared out the final documents with his clients.

Sentenced on a plea agreement

Outside the court a group of between 50 and 60 black people had gathered to see what would happen.

The State alleges the 22 accused planned to overthrow the African National Congress-led government and proclaim a Boer republic. They allegedly intended killing all blacks and Indians, or chasing them out of the country.

Originally 23 accused were to have appeared on Monday, but one of them, Dawid Oosthuizen, pleaded guilty to a charge of terrorism on Friday.

In terms of a plea agreement with the State, he is to serve an eight-year prison term and possibly testify against the others.

The 22 men remaining face a main charge of treason. There are four alternative charges of terrorism, and four more of sabotage.

They are accused of the murder of Claudia Mokone in a bomb blast in Soweto in October last year.

There is a charge of attempted murder for an alleged plan to blow up a car transporting former president Nelson Mandela, and an alternative charge of conspiracy to murder.

The rest of the 43 charges relate to contraventions of legislation governing the manufacturing, possession and use of explosives, arms and ammunition.

- SAPA