Boeremag trio say magistrate 'biased'
2003-01-23 19:11
Pretoria - Three suspected Boeremag members, facing charges of high treason, on Thursday accused a magistrate who refused them bail of being biased.
The three asked the Pretoria High Court to overturn a ruling by Pretoria regional magistrate Allan Cowan, who in December last year refused to immediately accept and read documents relating to new facts in their bail application.
They also wanted the application to be referred to another magistrate, claiming that Cowan was biased.
However, High Court Judge Willie Hartzenberg on Thursday turned down the application by Michael Teshardt du Toit, 43, of Krugersdorp, his brother Andries Tibert du Toit, 32, of Bela-Bela (Warmbaths) and Jacobus Christoffel "Rooikoos" du Plessis, 43, of Brits.
Hartzenberg described the application as impetuous. It could not be said on the papers before the court that the magistrate was biased, he said.
The three accused could ask the magistrate to recuse himself if they wanted to. If he refused, they could take that decision in appeal.
Cowan turned down their first bail application in April last year.
He also refused to hear a new bail application in the absence of Michael du Toit, who according to his legal representative, Harry Prinsloo, was too ill to attend the hearing.
Prinsloo told the court on Thursday his client Michael du Toit had serious health problems, including a swollen spleen and liver.
Hartzenberg remarked that du Toit's medical condition could amount to special circumstances, but said affidavits by doctors would have to be handed in to support the claim that du Toit was a "wreck".
The three men were arrested in April last year on charges of sabotage and terrorism after allegedly trying to recruit a lieutenant colonel in the SA National Defence Force to train members of the so-called Boeremag.
It is alleged that Michael du Toit was one of the men behind a 45-page document containing a plan to "take out" cabinet and parliament.
The three and at least 15 others will go on trial in the High Court in Pretoria on May 19 on charges of treason, sabotage, and terrorism, as well as charges under the Arms and Ammunition Act. The trial is expected to take more than three years.
- SAPA