the rollback of south africa's biological warfare program
the rollback of south africa's biological warfare program
the rollback of south africa's biological warfare program
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possible and have a close working relationship with investigators on <strong>the</strong><br />
ground. 209<br />
The prosecution did not appeal <strong>the</strong> judge’s rulings regarding amnesty or<br />
murders that occurred outside South Africa. Instead, Prosecutor Anton<br />
Ackerman emphasized, after Basson had pleaded guilty to 61 charges, that<br />
most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se charges could not be considered apar<strong>the</strong>id crimes since <strong>the</strong>y<br />
related to Basson’s self enrichment schemes. O<strong>the</strong>r witnesses have testified<br />
how Basson was <strong>the</strong> central figure in an international sales and procurement<br />
network that included arms deals involving <strong>the</strong> Libyan and Pakistani<br />
governments and drug deals. Several additional witnesses testified to Basson’s<br />
involvement in manufacturing drugs and to his luxurious lifestyle.<br />
Basson’s financial dealings were extremely complex throughout <strong>the</strong> 10<br />
years <strong>of</strong> Project Coast. The prosecution’s charge sheet covering illegal money<br />
transactions runs several hundreds pages. The entire indictment spans two<br />
volumes. However, despite <strong>the</strong> complexity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se financial arrangements and<br />
<strong>the</strong> technical nature <strong>of</strong> many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> charges involving <strong>biological</strong> agents and<br />
chemical substances, <strong>the</strong> judge in this case did not exercise his option under<br />
South African law <strong>of</strong> calling upon his own expert assessors. 210<br />
During <strong>the</strong> sixth week <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> trial <strong>the</strong> judge ruled that <strong>the</strong> State would not<br />
be allowed to use <strong>the</strong> record <strong>of</strong> Basson’s bail proceeding in <strong>the</strong> interest <strong>of</strong><br />
national security. The judge also issued several additional rulings that<br />
criticized <strong>the</strong> procedures used by OSEO investigators in <strong>the</strong>ir dealings with<br />
Basson. During <strong>the</strong> 10th week <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> trial, Prosecutor Ackerman submitted a<br />
request for adjournment to permit <strong>the</strong> Director <strong>of</strong> Public Prosecutions time to<br />
study <strong>the</strong> trial transcript and decide whe<strong>the</strong>r or not to request that Judge<br />
Harzenberg recuse himself from <strong>the</strong> case. This motion caused a great deal <strong>of</strong><br />
controversy and delayed <strong>the</strong> trial for several weeks. When <strong>the</strong> trial resumed,<br />
Ackerman argued that South Africa law required a judge to be impartial, and<br />
that Judge Hartzenberg had shown bias on several counts. These included his<br />
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