Nearly a month after it was to have started, the treason trial of 22 alleged Boeremag members was postponed for the fourth time because of unresolved legal aid issues on Tuesday.
Expressing his intention to get the trial started as soon as possible, Judge Eben Jordaan expressed concern that delays were damaging the image of the justice system.
He granted a postponement to next Monday for some of the outstanding matters to be resolved.
Lawyers for 15 of the accused contested decisions by the Legal Aid Board over tariffs payable to defence counsel.
Piet Pistorius, for 13 of the men, said he was made an offer to continue representing his clients once their money ran out. But the offer was for a fee equal to that of an advocate with only one client.
He described the decision as indefensible, and said he would make a detailed representation in this regard at the board’s next meeting on July 26.
Pending that date, he would continue representing his clients until their money ran out, Pistorius said. He expressed dismay, however, that their funds were being wasted on the delays.
There was also a problem with the legal aid applications of Frederick Johannes Naude and Dirk Jacobus Hanekom — until recently represented by advocates As Burger and Antonie Viviers.
The lawyers withdrew earlier this month, saying legal aid tariffs offered to them were inadequate.
Hanekom read a statement expressing his and Naude’s wish for renewed negotiations between Burger, Viviers and the board.
They said they would have difficulty building a relationship of trust with new lawyers. Burger and Viviers had been working on their case for about 10 months.
The men accused the board of offering their legal team an unreasonable fee, and urged it to reconsider.
The judge said it appeared Burger and Vivier’s asking fee was excessive. Hanekom and Naude had the option of making representations to the board on this matter on July 26, but this would leave them without representation until then.
He wanted to get the trial started after the mid-year recess, on August 4, Jordaan said. If Hanekom and Naude waited until July to take the matter up with the board, this would probably not be realised.
The judge urged the pair to consider accepting the services of a private practitioner appointed at legal aid tariffs. He gave them a week to consider it.
The legal aid applications of all the other men have been sorted out. One of the 22 had not applied for aid, and one withdrew his application.
In a statement issued later in the day, the board said it stood by its position of providing the Boeremag accused with legal aid at accepted tariff fees.
”Operationally, we have done everything we can to accommodate the rights and the needs of the accused in this trial…,” it said.
The board reiterated the need to balance a spiralling demand for services against its constrained resources when finalising a legal aid offer.
Pistorius told the court he wished to continue next Monday with a number of in limine or pre-trial applications — which would include asking for the recusal of prosecutor Paul Fick.
This would be followed by an application questioning the jurisdiction of the court and one about the correctness of the charge sheet.
The trial was to have started on May 19.
The 22 alleged rightwingers stand accused of plotting to overthrow the government with the aim of declaring a Boer republic.
They face a main charge of high treason and four alternative counts each of terrorism and sabotage.
One count each of murder and attempted murder and an alternative count of conspiracy to murder are also listed. The rest of the 43 charges relate to the illegal possession, manufacturing and use of explosives, arms and ammunition. – Sapa