NPA explains strategic deal with Thatcher
Publish date: 03 October 2005
Issue Number: 1433
Diary: Legalbrief Today
Category: Corruption
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has defended its decision to conclude a plea bargain deal with Mark Thatcher as strategically sound, says a Business Day report.
Explaining why he wasnt taken to trial under anti-mercenary laws, National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli, in the annual report of the NPA tabled in Parliament on Friday, said that the decision was strategically sound, based on the exigencies of the case, the prospects of success, cost considerations and the tactical benefit of an early catalyst. When Thatcher entered into the sentence agreement that saw him escape prison and pay a R5m fine, the ANC Youth League and Independent Democrats charged that the rich could always escape justice. Thatcher was accused of bankrolling the attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea. Full Business Day report
