Apartheid policemen to be prosecuted for Chikane poisoning

Beeld notes these will be the first prosecutions since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). It suggests the move paves the way for possible prosecution of former Minister of Law and Order Adriaan Vlok and former Chief of Police General Johan van der Merwe. Johan Wagener, legal representative of the three security policemen, said the NPA informed him of their decision at the end of last month. The report says the latest events follow the tabling in Parliament last January of a new prosecution policy on apartheid crimes. It includes a clause that gives the NPA discretion on whether or not to prosecute, if it is not in \'the national interest\'. One of the factors that must be taken into account is whether the apartheid victim wants the prosecution to go ahead. In Chikane\'s case, he has indicated that he is not interested in prosecution, but that he wants full disclosure on the attempt on his life. The NPA has indicated, nevertheless, that prosecution will go ahead. Full Beeld report

Prosecution would not be in the national interest as it would only fuel racial divisions, said the lawyer acting on behalf of three ex-security policemen. Wagenaar said SA had battled to unite people and the intended prosecutions would cause upheaval, which might even spark violence. ‘Why must we project ourselves back into that era. This is very negative. It\'s not what our country needs in the long run,’ Wagenaar is quoted as saying in a report in The Mercury. He said it was extremely difficult and complex to prosecute those who had given orders, and in defending them, lawyers would have to go back in time and reopen old wounds. ‘It\'s far easier to prosecute the guy who pulled the trigger . . . or Robert McBride. It\'s far more difficult if you go up the lines of authority,’ said Wagenaar. Full report in The Mercury (subscription needed)