Boeremag 'weakling' gets bail
2012-08-27 14:02
Pretoria - A Boeremag member, convicted of treason after spending more than 10 years in jail, was granted bail by the High Court in Pretoria on Monday.
Judge Eben Jordaan granted R15 000 bail to Pretoria accountant Adriaan van Wyk, 47, in terms of an agreement with the State.
Van Wyk is one of 20 Boeremag members convicted of treason as a result of a right-wing plot to violently overthrow the ANC government.
In terms of strict bail conditions, Van Wyk will not be allowed to attend any political meetings or gatherings.
He will be confined to his home in the evenings and will have to report to the police once a day when he is not attending the trial.
‘A very expensive lesson’
He may not leave the magisterial districts of Pretoria and Wonderboom without permission, may not apply for travel documents and must report any change of address to the investigating officer.
His advocate, Daan Mostert, told the court Van Wyk was "very remorseful" and had learnt a "very expensive lesson" over a very long time of his life.
He said Van Wyk already had work and would start his new job in the city centre immediately after being granted bail.
Mostert handed in written heads of argument detailing Van Wyk's personal circumstances.
Jordaan said he had looked at what Van Wyk had done when he convicted him, but had also looked at what he had not done for purposes of sentencing.
It looked to him as if the 10 years Van Wyk had already spent in custody "equalled things out", he said.
The judge earlier rejected Van Wyk's evidence that his friend and police informer JC Smit had drawn him into the Boeremag's activities.
Document 12
Jordaan said although Van Wyk had been described as a "weak" Boeremag member who did not attend many meetings, it was clear the organisation's inner circle trusted him.
His name appeared in Boeremag leader Mike du Toit's war plan, known as Document 12.
The trial was postponed to Tuesday when counsel for Brandfort farmer Jurie Vermeulen would present legal argument about sentencing.
Lawyers for the rest of the 20 accused would start presenting arguments about their sentences in January next year.
In addition to being found guilty of treason, five of the accused - Herman van Rooyen, Rudi Gouws and brothers Johan, Kobus and Wilhelm Pretorius - were also convicted of attempting to murder then president Nelson Mandela and murdering a Soweto woman, who died as a result of a bomb they planted.
- SAPA
