The state will apply to keep the media and public out of the trial of two foreign nationals accused of being part of an international nuclear-smuggling ring.
The trial of Swiss citizen Daniel Geiges (67) and German citizen Gerhard Visser (66) was on Thursday postponed in the Pretoria High Court to July 22.
Legal arguments about the state’s secrecy application will be presented in the high court on April 30.
Although Geiges was not in court as he is presently in hospital, the court was informed that both he and Visser are pleading not guilty to the charges against them.
The men face charges relating to the contravention of various sections of the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act and the Nuclear Energy Act.
The indictment and summary of substantial facts were amended but the press were not given insight into the amendment.
Judge JC Labuschagne granted an order instructing the registrar of the high court to arrange for a different venue for the trial.
The state gave notice that it intends applying for the trial to be held in camera in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act and the two laws under which they are being charged. It wants both the press and public to be barred from the proceedings.
The state will also apply for an order prohibiting the publication of all information relating to the proceedings.
It will ask that all documentary and physical evidence placed before the court during the trial be secured in a maximum security facility where the media cannot access it.
The accused are both mechanical engineers and were arrested in Vanderbijlpark in September 2004.
Visser was the managing director of Randburg company Krish Engineering and Geiges worked for him as a project manager. — Sapa