Boeremag trial postponed again
2003-08-05 13:45
Pretoria - The High Court here is expected to give judgment next week on a special plea entered by 13 of the 22 treason accused that the court has no jurisdiction over them.
Judge Eben Jordaan postponed the trial to next Tuesday to prepare his judgment.
If their plea succeeds, the 13 are to ask that their trial be conducted before an ad hoc international tribunal.
Defence lawyer Paul Kruger disputed the State's argument that this option was not open to his clients in terms of international or local law.
Kruger cited tribunals set up to adjudicate political crimes in Rwanda and Yugoslavia.
His clients might consider approaching the United Nations or the European Union to have a similar tribunal set up for their trial, Kruger told the court.
The 22 men stand accused of planning to overthrow the government with the aim of declaring a Boer republic.
They face 42 charges, including treason, terrorism, sabotage, murder, and several firearms and explosives violations.
On Monday, the prosecution argued that the 13 contesting the jurisdiction of South African courts over them had no qualms in the past about approaching the same courts for relief.
'Flaws' in constitutional process
Prosecutor Paul Fick SC said eight of them were previously complainants in criminal matters or claimants in civil law suits.
"Indeed, since 1994 they have willingly subjected themselves to the courts and the judicial system's jurisdiction, the same institutions they now claim are constitutionally illegitimate."
Another four of the men were not hindered by this "illegitimacy" when they applied for bail, Fick contended.
The 13 claimed the court had no jurisdiction over them due to what they described as flaws in the constitution-making process.
They contest 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.
'Left Boerevolk in the lurch'
A document was handed to reporters at the court in the morning by a body calling itself the Cultural Justice Foundation, asking South Africans to take part in a poll on whether the De Klerk government left the "Boerevolk" (Boer nation) in the lurch.
It claimed more than 8 000 people had already responded to the poll in four weeks.
The findings would be made available to bodies advocating for self-determination for the "Boerevolk".
Defence advocate Piet Pistorius indicated on Tuesday he would bring an application before the end of the month for a review of the Legal Aid Board's decision to pay him and Kruger, jointly representing 13 of the trialists, the same fee as lawyers with only one client.
If they had no success, he and Kruger might have to withdraw from the case once their clients' money ran out, said Pistorius.
- SAPA