Pretoria | Friday
REACTION to the acquittal of apartheid chemical and biological warfare expert, Dr Wouter Basson, in the Pretoria High Court on Thursday were mixed.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development refused to comment because the State had asked leave to appeal the judgement.
Justice representative Paul Setsetse said that the national director of public prosecutions has lodged a leave to appeal.
”Therefore as the ministry we would like to treat this matter as sub judice.
”We would like to allow all the legal remedies to be explored and we therefore reserve our comment.”
Prosecutor Anton Ackermann asked the presiding judge, Justice Willie Hartzenberg, for leave to appeal immediately after judgement was handed down.
”I can understand you are unhappy, but shouldn’t you first read the judgement?” Hartzenberg asked.
Ackermann disagreed, saying time was of the essence.
Hartzenberg said he would hear the State’s application on April 29. He would on that date also announce his decision on whether several witnesses who gave evidence for the state qualified for indemnity.
There was a round of applause when Hartzenberg acquitted Basson after reading for nearly eight hours extracts from his 1453-page judgement.
The judge criticised the prosecution for trying to put the onus on the defence to prove Basson’s innocence, rather than discharging its duty of proving his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The State had decided what the truth was and did not try hard enough to convince the court of that truth, said Hartzenberg.
Basson left the courtroom through a back exit without talking to journalists. He is expected to address the Pretoria Press Club on Friday.
Several prominent figures from the apartheid era were seen in the full courtroom.
They included former defence minister Magnus Malan and retired chief of the old SA Defence Force (SADF) Constand Viljoen, who is also the previous leader of the Freedom Front. Former surgeon-general Niel Knobel was present too.
Malan told reporters the trial had been a waste of state resources.
”We warned them two-and-a-half years ago they were going to lose, and still they waste money instead of looking at the poverty in our country.”
Viljoen said he had always believed in Basson.
”He is a good man who did exactly what was expected of him,” he said outside the court.
The judgment proved that South African courts were still independent, Viljoen said, adding that the case against Basson amounted to mere propaganda.
He accused the State of basing its case on untruths and half-truths, saying: ”This is not (how you apply) human rights.” Basson’s mother, Bronwen Basson-Cronje said she was relieved it was all over, and that her son was afforded a fair hearing.
”I always knew he was not guilty of all these horrible things. I am happy we had a judge who listened and asked the right questions.”
Political parties have reacted differently to Basson’s acquittal.
African National Congress representative Smuts Ngonyama said the judgment was ”completely outrageous”.
The ANC believed this was ”not the end of the case, it can’t be the end of the case”.
It was ”highly immoral that Wouter Basson can be set free”, Ngonyama said.
However, opposition parties were more guarded in their reaction, saying the law had run its course in the case.
Democratic Alliance spokesman Dr Tertius Delport said his party had noted the verdict, and added that ”we do not comment on court judgements”.
Thus, the DA accepted the court’s ruling.
New National Party spokeswoman Sheila Camerer said the ruling was ”a bit of a shock”, in view of all the trouble and expense that went into the case.
It was an extraordinary result that ”must pose questions about the investigation”. – Sapa