Illegal bugging claim raises prospect of Boeremag mistrial

The statement claims Hankel flew to the US to purchase the bugging devices which were used to unlawfully monitor the conversations between the accused and their legal teams. The revelations by Deon Loots, a former Captain in the Crime Intelligence Unit - about the alleged police conspiracy to frame the Boeremag plotters - goes further and names individual officers whom he charges are at the centre of the conspiracy. The report adds if his claims are true, it could lead to the Boeremag trial being declared a mistrial. Loots, who made his statement in August, has investigated the Boeremag for years and was also the handler of the main agent who infiltrated the organisation. 'The Boeremag was driven, managed, orchestrated and all the planning had been done by these (Crime Intelligence) members,' said Loots. He added evidence had been fabricated by Crime Intelligence in order to 'make things look much worse'. Full report in The Witness (subscription needed)