Boeremag: Cellphone blown up
2003-05-19 10:27
Pretoria - Police have exploded a suspicious cellphone found abandoned outside the Palace of Justice on Monday morning where the treason trial of 22 alleged Boeremag leaders started.
"It was normal procedure," said deputy national police commissioner André Pruis.
"You can't even call it an explosion."
Dozens of friends and family members of the 22 accused in the Boeremag treason trial arrived on Monday at the Palace of Justice in Pretoria for the first day of proceedings.
They queued at the steps of the building on Church Square to be sure of a seat in the public gallery that can accommodate only 120 people.
The square was empty of the usual peak-hour traffic as a strong police contingent kept watch.
Only the doves usually occupying the circle appeared to be relaxed.
The 22 are to be tried on charges that they planned to overthrow the African National Congress-led government and proclaim a Boer republic.
Among those waiting to pass through security scanners into the Pretoria High Court was Gerhard van Dyk, a cousin of accused Dr Johan Pretorius
Police taking pictures outside court
Van Dyk said he intended attending every single day of the trial that is expected to last more than two years.
Describing the heavy security presence as a waste of taxpayers' money, he said police could be put to better used to curtail crime in rural areas.
"Instead, they are running around here with cameras, taking pictures of everyone clad in khaki," Van Dyk said.
"Earlier in the morning, they had two fixed-wing light military aircraft and a helicopter circling overhead. What a waste."
Johan Vos, who said accused Frederick Boltman was his uncle, said he was sad about the charges against the men.
"These people have done nothing wrong. They are only striving for a dispensation where the different peoples could govern themselves."
He said he also intended attending every day of the trial.
"That is something I am prepared to do for my own people."
Several other family members declined to speak to reporters.
State has 369 witnesses
Court proceedings were scheduled to get underway at 09:00. The 22 accused were to be brought to court in a high-speed convoy, escorted by helicopters.
The trial comes more than a year after the first men were arrested in connection with an alleged planned coup d'etat.
The State has more than 600 witness statements and 369 witnesses.
The matter is to be heard by Judge Eben Jordaan and two assessors in the recently re-opened Palace of Justice.
The State alleges the men 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.
Nineteen of the accused applied for help from the Legal Aid Board. Twelve later withdrew their applications. The remaining seven were all granted legal aid.
A defence lawyer said on Thursday his clients intended applying for the recusal of prosecutor Paul Fick SC, on the first day of the trial.
Murder charge for bomb blast
Once the matter gets underway, it is expected to be held up by a trial within a trial on the issue of the court's jurisdiction, which some of the accused are contesting.
The men face a main charge of treason. There are four alternative charges of terrorism, and four more of sabotage.
A murder charge is also listed, for the death of Claudia Mamatsieng 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 possession and use of explosives, arms and ammunition.
A 23rd accused, Dawid Oosthuizen, pleaded guilty in the same court on Friday and was given in effect an eight-year sentence.
He said he would be prepared to testify for the state against the other 22.
- SAPA