THE judge hearing the murder and fraud trial of apartheid scientist Wouter Basson has refused to stand down, describing a prosecutor’s claims that he is biased as “absurd”. Judge Willie Hartzenberg said in the Pretoria High Court there are no grounds for the state’s claim that he had pre-judged the case. Delivering judgment on an application by Anton Ackermann, the senior state prosecutor in the trial, that he stand down, Hartzenberg said no reasonable person could have concluded that he is biased based on his rulings and remarks in the court. Ackermann on Monday claimed otherwise, asking Hartzenberg to withdraw and accusing him of siding with the defence, of bias and of pre-judging aspects of the trial. Prosecutors now have the option of appealing against the judge’s judgement on himself, a lengthy process which will involve four or five of Hartzenberg’s peers pronouncing on his impartiality.