Boeremag accused Kobus Pretorius was a changed man after ”meeting Christ” while being held in jail, the Pretoria High Court heard on Friday.
Counsel for Pretorius, Annelie Van der Walt, argued before Judge Khami Makhafola that Pretorius should be released on bail so that he could become involved in church and school activities.
She said Pretorius’s conduct had changed in jail and there was a need for such conduct ”outside in this world”.
Judge Makhafola said Pretorius might be a changed man, but he had not shown remorse. If the accused had indeed changed, the court would have expected to have heard some admissions.
Van der Walt said Pretorius had, in fact, made admissions by not contesting some of the evidence presented in court.
She insisted that the treason trial was being held hostage by Pretorius’s co-accused and that her client could not be held responsible for their behaviour.
Pretorius and 20 co-accused, including his father and two brothers, pleaded not guilty several years ago to 42 charges ranging from high treason and terrorism to attempting to murder former president Nelson Mandela with a car bomb and murdering a woman with a bomb in Soweto.
Judgement in the bail bid will be delivered on January 30. — Sapa