'Slap on the wrist' bemoaned
2005-01-13 15:55
Cape Town - The R3m fine and suspended sentence imposed on Mark Thatcher was "nothing more than a slap on the wrist", the ANC Youth League said on Thursday.
It was reacting to the formalisation earlier in the day of a plea bargain agreement between Thatcher and the national prosecuting authority, in which Thatcher admitted financing a helicopter for a failed Equatorial Guinea coup bid.
"This is indeed an abomination and a miscarriage of justice," the league said.
"Aiding and enabling criminal activities like the overthrow of legitimate governments is not only a crime against the people, but one which should be classified as unpardonable."
Efforts to build a continent free of coups and at peace with itself would never succeed if the likes of Thatcher were allowed to walk free and not face the full might of the law, the ANCYL added.
The Scorpions' decision to enter into a plea bargain with Thatcher "brings to question the integrity of this institution", the Youth League said.
- SAPA