/ 5 January 2003

Man in court over alleged right-wing coup plot

A man charged with allegedly helping devise a right-wing plot to overthrow the government, was freed on R20 000 bail in the Pretoria Regional Court on Monday.

Frederik Johannes Naude was ordered to remain under house arrest, said prosecutor Pieter Luyt.

Naude faces charges of terrorism, high treason and sabotage, and is to stand trial with more than 20 other rightwingers on similar charges in the Pretoria High Court in May.

The men are believed to have links with the right-wing Boeremag organisation, which was allegedly planning a coup d’etat. The organisation has also claimed responsibility for at least some of the bomb blasts in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape since October.

The exact number of people who would stand trial was not yet known, Luyt said.

”The figure stood at about 28, but charges were withdrawn against some, while others still have to be charged,” he said.

Naude, from Bethlehem in the Free State, was arrested in October last year.

Five of the group arrested so far had been wanted for the October bombings in Soweto and Bronkhorstspruit.

They were on the run before being apprehended last month. A sixth man wanted in connection with the bombings, Gerhardus ”Vissie” Visage (63) is still at large. – Sapa