SOUTH AFRICA: Hardline Police Minister receives suspended jail sentence for attempted murder of anti-apartheid activist in 1989

A hardline police minister in South Africa's apartheid era and four police officers receive suspended prison sentences after pleading guilty to attempting to murder a leading black activist in 1989. A police minister and four police officers have received suspended jail sentences in South Africa for attempting to murder an anti-apartheid activist. Adriaan Vlok, former South African Minister of Safety and Security during the apartheid era, and his former police chief Johann van der Merwe, were given 10-year sentences, suspended for five years, on Friday (August 17). The case has rekindled debate about justice and retribution in a country still dealing with the scars of white rule. The accused tried to murder anti-apartheid activist and cleric Frank Chikane, now adviser to President Thabo Mbeki, by lacing his underwear with poison. The poison attacked his nervous system, making him violently ill. Prosecutor Anton Ackermann said the case, 13 years after the end of apartheid, was not driven by revenge and this was reflected by the sentences, handed down after Vlok and the other defendants struck a plea bargain. Three lower-ranking policemen were given five-year terms, suspended for four years. Ackermann told the court a plea bargain had been reached under which charges of conspiracy to murder were withdrawn. Information garnered from the five may be used for prosecuting other apartheid-era crimes, a prosecution spokesman said. Afri-Forum, a pressure group that supports minorities in politics, held a demonstration outside the Pretoria High Court in support of the victims of former guerrilla organisation ANC (African National Congress) atrocities. The group says prosecutions have only taken place against former security forces and that no members of the ANC have been prosecuted. In another demonstration outside the court protesters wielding placards reading "Apartheid is a crime against humanity", demanded Vlok be prosecuted for other abuses during his time in office. Speaking at a news conference after the court hearing, Vlok, the only apartheid minister to apply to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for amnesty, over his role in a series of bombings, urged South Africa not to revive divisions by prosecuting old crimes. He said it was time to move forward. Speaking at another news conference Reverend Frank Chikane said he found the story "chilling". He said he considered himself "a miracle". But he hoped the case would help South Africa heal old wounds. Friday's trial was widely seen as a test case for the prosecution of apartheid officials who were not granted an amnesty by the TRC. Only a handful of cases have come to trial since 2003, when the TRC -- headed by Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu -- ended its probe into crimes committed under apartheid. Van der Merwe said F.W. de Klerk, the former president who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his role in dismantling the racist system, should be held to account for sanctioning human rights abuses and said security forces had been unfairly blamed. De Klerk last month denied involvement in the murders of anti-apartheid activists and other abuses.

ITN Source | August 18, 2007

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