The first details of the in camera military trial of three national service-men in Cape Town have emerged – confirming that the charges relate to attempts to disseminate secret documents and that some of the accused are linked to the End Conscription Campaign (ECC). Although the SA Defence Force has drawn a veil of silence over the proceedings, Weekly Mail is able to report some details that emerged before the closed-door ruling was invoked.
The court president, Colonel Manie Dempers, ruled the trial be in camera from the point where pleas were recorded to its conclusion. The three – all close friends who worked at Western Province Command headquarters in Cape Town's Castle – have been charged with obtaining secret documents and attempting to disseminate their contents, to the detriment of the SADF. Before the three pleaded not guilty, an attorney representing one of the men argued the military court should recuse itself as it could not act impartially.
Attorney John van den Berg, appearing for Private Peter Pluddeman, argued Pluddeman had acted in the interests of the ECC, a legal organisation which the SADF had nevertheless identified as an enemy. Van den Berg argued that, as military personnel, those constituting the court owed their loyalty to one master – the SADF. He contended the court would have to make a finding that the SADF acted illegally and morally reprehensibly as a matter of policy against the ECC and that it would not be possible for the court to find that it was indeed the policy of the SADF to defame the ECG.
Attorneys Reid Gorin and Lieutenant Willie Knoetze, acting for the other accused, supported the application. However, Dempers ruled the Defence Act gave a military court trial jurisdiction and therefore was properly constituted. All three men have reserved their rights fully to take the matter to the supreme court on review. They have been charged under Article 4(1)(b) of the Protection of Information Act, read with section 18(1) of the Riotous Assemblies Act. It is alleged that between December 11 and 14, at the Castle, they obtained official documents classified as confidential or secret and attempted to disseminate the documents or information to someone with no right to access to it or to make it public to the detriment of the SADF.
Pluddeman, a 25-year-old Stellenbosch University English honours graduate, was arrested with Corporal Desmond Thompson, 20, of Fochville and Scout Hein Monnig, 23, of Cape Town on December 14 last year. They were released on January 5. A fourth man, a Stellenbosch University philosophy honours student, was arrested with them but released soon afterwards.
At the time of the arrests, Weekly Mail – reported that sources said it was believed they had information relating to a "dirty tricks" drive aimed at the ECC. Within the Castle is a section responsible for producing propaganda usually identified as emanating from the SADF. When unsourced anti-ECC posters appeared in Cape Town last year, speculation was rife that they originated from the same department.
This article originally appeared in the Weekly Mail.
