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Chemical Warfare + methaqualone

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Feb 9, 2002, 1:43:12 AM2/9/02

4 October 1999, by Africa Correspondent Jeremy Vine

Chemical warfare expert goes on trial
Dr Basson : Accused of mass murder and fraud

The trial has opened of a South African chemical warfare
expert accused of poisoning enemies of the apartheid
regime.

Doctor Wouter Basson is charged with killing 16 people,
supplying poison to kill another 200 and obtaining $ 3
million by fraud.

Some information emerged last year, a testimony to
South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

A scientist described how Doctor Basson set up a
company (in Roodeplaat) producing cigarettes laced
with anthrax or Cholera, beer with Thallium or Botulinum
as well as poisoned chocolate and whisky.

Nelson Mandela himself was said to be among the
intended victims.

Doctor Basson, who continues to work privately
as a heart surgeon, also allegedly supplied muscle
relaxants which stopped victims breathing.

Their bodies were thrown into the sea from aeroplanes.

Some 200 members of a rebel group fighting South
African rule in Namibia were allegedly killed with
chemicals Doctor Basson supplied.

The case will remind South Africans of just how dirty
some of the activities of their old apartheid government
actually were.

More :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_464000/464405.stm
and
http://www.truth.org.za/media/1999/9903/s990312a.htm

**************************************

PRETORIA March 12 1999 Sapa-AFP

BASSON MILKED APARTHEID GOVERNMENT
OF MILLIONS

Doctor Basson, the mastermind behind apartheid
South Africa's biochemical weapons programme who
is likely to be charged at the end of October, will face
24 counts of fraud involving some 57 million rand
(some 25 millions dollars at the time), The Star
newspaper said on Friday.

The man whose sinister work as leader of the apartheid
government's biochemical weapons research programme
earned him the nickname "Dr Death", will be charged
with a total of 50 crimes, including drug trafficking and
conspiracy to murder, it said.

In the charge sheet, the state alleges that Basson
enriched himself over five years by funnelling millions of
rands into his own pocket under the pretence of buying
materials and equipment from foreign countries for
Project Coast, as the non-conventional warfare
programme was code-named.

The money is alleged to have ended up in private bank
accounts in the United States, Great Britain, Luzembourg
and Switzerland.

Basson also benefitted considerably from the privatisation
of front companies which had been established by the
defence ministry for the purposes of PROJECT COAST.

In the early 1990s, when it became evident that the end
of apartheid was near, Basson was apprarently authorised
by Defence Force Minister General Magnus Malan and
Finance Minister Barend du Plessis to sell two chemical laboritories used
for weapons research. One of the factories
was eventually bought by Malan's nephew.

Some of his activities were revealed last year when he
testified before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC) about the apartheid government's military secrets.

Many witnesses testified that, under state orders, they
developed poisons and bacteria destined for use against
anti-apartheid activists and even tried to develop a vaccine
that would render black women infertile.

Basson himself told the TRC that he was responsible for
starting the apartheid government's non-conventional
weapons programme with the help of foreign countries,
including the United States, in complete violation of the international
sanctions that were in place at the time.
More :
http://www.anc.org.za/anc/newsbrief/1999/news0315

**************************************

Trial Report : Thirty-Two pertaining to
16 October - 20 October 2000.
Extracts

This report reflects the testimony of American attorney,
David Webster. The court moved to Jacksonville Florida
during October 2000 to hear his evidence and that of
Jane Webster.

Monday, October 16
On his fifth day in the witness stand, Florida lawyer David
Webster was questioned about the Waterson Trust and
Waterson Master Trust, set up in the Channel Islands in
September 1993.
Webster explained that Jersey was a favourable site for
offshore trusts, and he had mentioned this to Basson
several times over the years, advising him that trusts
were common practice in the international business world
as a mechanism for holding assets. The need to establish
an offshore trust was urgent, said Webster, because
Basson had called him to say Annette (his wife) was
"giving him some trouble" regarding their newly born son,
and wanted him to set up a trust for her.
Basson was anticipating asset confiscation by the ANC
government. As far as he knows, the trusts never held any
assets beyond an initial loan amount provided by WPW
Investments.
Questioned about HAP Potgieter, Webster said that he
knew HAP Potgieter, who was referred to him by Basson
when he needed Webster's assistance in setting up a US
company, related to a South African company, to acquire
spare parts for helicopters.
Webster set up two companies. He claims he did not know
until the week before taking the stand in Jacksonville that
Potgieter was a serving SA Air Force officer at the time.
Webster served as the nominal office holder for Potgieter's
companies.

Thursday, October 19
Webster said he became aware, in 1993, that Basson was
still an active military officer because Basson remarked that
his travels did not entirely comply with the law, since as a
brigadier-general now, he was supposed to give more notice
of his intention to travel to the United States.
Cilliers said Webster was mistaken, Basson was already a
brigadier from January 1988. Furthermore, Cilliers claimed that
Webster had attended Basson's promotion party, at his home
in Pretoria.
Further proof that Webster was at all times aware of Basson's
military status, said Cilliers, is that Basson arranged for Webster
to visit the operational area in 1987. Webster admitted that he
and Wilfred Mole had visited Namibia and had been to a
military base there. According to Cilliers, Basson had sent a
medical doctor from 7 Medical Battalion to act as their escort.
Webster conceded that from time to time, he himself took
instructions from Bernard Zimmer, Philip Mijburgh and Sam
Bosch.
Cilliers said his instructions are that Webster did meet one of
"the people involved", in Orlando, namely one Dieter Dryer of the
East German Intelligence Service. Webster has no recollection
of this, and said the only Dieter he ever met, had nothing at all
to do with WPW Investments Inc.

Monday, October 23
Evidence in chief of Florida attorney David Webster's wife, Jane,
was led by junior prosecutor Werner Bouwer. She was previously
interrogated by Ron Henry, of the US Attorney's office, and
prosecutor Dawie Fouche, in the USA in April 1998, and made
an affidavit at that time.
Jane met Basson in 1986 when, while still dating David, she
accompanied him to the Cayman Islands to meet a friend/client
of Wilfred Mole. The purpose of the trip was for David to meet
Basson.
At a later stage, she became general and administrative
manager of WPW Aviation, first operating out of Winter Park,
Florida, later from Fairclough Cottage at Warfield, England.
At some point, Jane was told that the group was "dealing
with tobacco - selling tobacco - in Libya".
Van Zyl asked Webster what Jane thought the group was
conducting ? What had she made of the aircraft flying to
Angola, for example ?

Monday, October 23
The final day of the Jacksonville hearings began with the
continued cross examination of David Webster by Adv.
Van Zyl.
Van Zyl put it to Webster that he knew full well that Basson
had certain dealings and relationships with, and was involved
in transactions in, Russia, East Germany and Libya.
Webster denies this, saying he can remember Basson
mentioning that he had been to Russia regarding some
sort of chemical "they were able to obtain from the brains
of dead people".

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/32.html

**************************************

Trial Report : Thirty-Three covers the period
Monday 30 October - Friday 3 November 2000.
Extracts

Monday October 30, 2000
The court resumed in Pretoria after having heard the
evidence of David and Jane Webster in Jacksonville,
Florida, USA.

The first witness to be called was Reverend Frank Chikane,
currently director-general in the president's office and
secretary of the cabinet. Reverend Chikane was an outspoken
anti-apartheid activist and church leader during the 1980s.
Rev. Chikane told the court in detail of his experiences in
1989 when he believed he was poisoned. He fell ill repeatedly
during a trip to Namibia and a subsequent trip to the USA.
One four occasions he nearly lost his life as a result of what
he believes to have been an attempted assassination through
poisoning. The defence team put no questions to Chikane
during cross examination.
The next witness was Dr Daniel Smith, a gastro-intestinal
specialist from the University of Wisconsin Medical School,
who was Chikane's primary physician on all three occasions
that he was hospitalized in the USA in 1989. FBI test reports
were also filed with the court. During each of Rev. Chikane's
hospitalizations tests were conducted in an attempt to
determine the nature of his illness. On the third occasion that
he was hospitalized the presence of P.nitrophenol, a breakdown
product of many organophosphates in Chikane's urine sample,
along with the earlier test results, provided "strong evidence",
according to Smith, that Chikane had been exposed to an
organophosphate. He claimed this was "the single best
explanation" for his illness. During cross examination of the
witness, Adv. Cilliers asked Smith why it had taken so long for
him to diagnose organophosphate poisoning and why he had
failed to treat Chikane with atropine when he was first admitted.
The next witness was Dr Thomas Lynch, a chemist and
bacteriologist who spent almost 10 years in the FBI's chemical
toxicology unit. In the urine he found P.nitrophenol, a metabolite
of a number of insecticides, including Parathion, Methylthion
and Chlorothion. It is also the metabolic pathway breakdown
from Parathion to Paraoxon. Clothing items were tested by
steam distillation in four different batches, but no insecticides
or nerve agents were found. Lynch conceded that he did not
know who had initially taken the samples, but said when
they reached him, they were in a sealed box and he could
thus vouch for the integrity of the chain of evidence from the
time the samples were handled by the FBI field office in
Milwaukee.

Tuesday October 31,2000
The day began with the admission of two affidavits which the
defence has not placed in dispute. Jakobus Kotze formerly a
security branch policeman who served at Jan Smuts airport
(now Johannesburg International airport) states in his affidavit
that he had assisted three security branch officers, Chris Smit,
Manie van Staden and Gert Otto in obtaining passes which
would grant them access to all areas of the airport. These three
men are alleged to have been the recipients of toxins from RRL
which was handed to them by Dr. Andre Immelman, according
to his testimony in May this year
The first witness of the day was Charles Zeelie, who joined the
police in 1969. He is a qualified explosives expert. Zeelie
testified that one weekend, he and Nanny Beyers (his colleague
in the security branch) met Manie van Staden and Gert Otto
at a restaurant at Jan Smuts Airport. During the meeting, Zeelie
and Beyers were told a Stratcom (a strategic communcation
operation aimed at disrupting target organisations) was being
planned during which a toxic substance would be applied to the
clothing of Frank Chikane. Some time thereafter Zeelie saw
newspaper reports about Chikane's illness.
The next witness was Nanny Beyers. Beyers was a security
policeman also involved in ongoing surveillance of Beyers
Naude, Frank Chikane, Saci Macozoma and Dr Wolfram
Kirschner of Justice & Reconciliation. Beyers testified to his
role in the interception of Chikane's suitcase at the airport.
Boela Burger then testified about his role in the interception
of Chikane's suitcase, saying he handed the suitcase to
Beyers and Zeelie.

Friday November 3, 2000
Paul Erasmus, a security policeman from 1977 to 1993, states
that while attached to the SA Council of Churches desk, he
handled a number of informants. At some point, it came to his
knowledge that there was an officially sanctioned plot to poison
the Reverend Frank Chikane, and shortly afterwards, Erasmus
himself placed Chikane's name on a hit list, after discussing
the plan with fellow security policeman Nanny Beyers.

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/33.html

*************************************

Trial Report: Thirty-Four covers the period Monday
November 6 to Friday November 10, 2000 - Extracts

Monday November 6, 2000
The first witness was Lieutenant-General Dirk Verbeek, chief
director counter-intelligence from January 1988 to the beginning
of 1993. He said that from 1987 he was aware that Project Coast
was designed to develop and offensive and defensive CBW
capacity for the SADF. He said Coast was one of the top 10
most sensitive/clandestine SADF projects at the time, along
with the nuclear bomb project. As counter-intelligence chief,
Verbeek himself had no knowledge of any contact between
Coast/Basson and Libya, anyone in the SADF and Libya,
contact between Basson and Libyan intelligence or security
forces up to 1992. Verbeek testified that from 1994, it became
"common knowledge" that such contact had taken place. He
has no knowledge of any equipment or chemical substances
being provided to Coast from Libyan sources, or of Libyan
intelligence agent Yusuf Murgam.
Dr Torie Pretorius then called Sybie van der Spuy, managing
director of EMLC for 12 years from November 1, 1980. He said
that when he first joined EMLC he found a room containing a
large amount of bulk chemicals and a carton of what appeared
to be clothing. As he moved across the room to examine the
clothing, one of his new employees warned him not to touch it.
Asked why not, the employee told Van der Spuy : "Because
those clothes are poisoned and if you put those underpants
on, you'll be dead by tonight".
Van der Spuy testified that when EMLC was shut down, he
had a phone call from Basson almost immediately who offered
him a job as technical director at Delta G Scientific.

Pretorius asked Coetzee to expand on his knowledge of
organophosphates used in Rhodesia. He said he was
approached on one occasion (prior to his departure from
EMLC at the end of August, 1980) by a courier for Rhodesian
Special Forces, who gave him a typed report, in point form,
of toxic substances, including organophosphates, applied
to various parts of the body, and outlining the exact results/
effects. He turned the document over to the Surgeon General
at the time, Gen Nico Nieuwoudt.

Tuesday November 7, 2000
Senior prosecutor Anton Ackerman called former Military
Intelligence chief Lieutenant-General Witkop Badenhorst, who
joined the SADF in 1962 and retired in November 1991. He first
became aware of the existence of Project Coast while Chief of
Staff Army Logistics (1982-1987). From 1986, Badenhorst was
aware that Coast's objective was establishment of a chemical
and biological warfare programme, and he knew that it was a
SAMS project, with Basson the project officer.
Wednesday November 8, 2000
The first witness was Gerald Cadwell. Cadwell, despite
not having qualified as a chemist has worked as a chemist
since 1966 and was recruited to Delta G Scientific in 1983.
Cadwell's first task was the up-scaling of the manufacture
of new generation tear gas, CR. Cadwell testified that he was
instructed by Basson to dissolve CR in methanol and a
"couple of hundred" litres was prepared for testing. Prior to
moving the operation to Delta G Scientific's Midrand plant in
August 1985, Cadwell estimates that about 50kg of CR was
produced. In total, says Cadwell, 24 tons of CR were
manufactured from mid-85 to late 1986/early 1987.
A 250-litre reactor and a 1 000-litre reactor were used.
While Cadwell was technical production manager and Corrie
Botha was production manager, 1 200kg of methaqualone
was made. Cadwell and Botha were also involved in the
extraction of oil from about a ton and a half of cannabis at
DGS.
The next witness was Barry Pithey, a qualified chemist who
was recruited by Willie Basson in April 1982 to create a
business front for Delta G Scientific. Pithey said the chief
product made by Delta G Scientific was CR, but CS was
also manufactured. In 1988, Pithey became involved in the
production of methaqualone. Pithey said he was aware of an
Ecstasy project at Delta G Scientific under the code name
Baxil. The product was delivered to the premises of
Medchem Pharmaceuticals, a company owned by Mijburgh.
Forensic analyst Etienne Van Zyl states that on March 7,
1997, he was asked to test chemicals. He went to the Silverton
Forensic Laboratory and tested the contents of a number
of blue plastic drums. They were found to contain 840kg of
methaqualone precursor, from which, he estimates, 820kg of
pure methaqualone could be manufactured. Drums containing
80 litres of Quinezoline were also found, from which an
estimated 130kg of methaqualone could be made. Van Zyl
estimates that 3,5-m Mandrax tablets could have been made
from these two substances. Some of the drums were found to
contain cellulose, used to set up a chain reaction during the
manufacture of methaqualone.
The next witness was Dr Klaus Psotta, now self-employed and
a doctor in organic chemistry. Psotta was recruited to Delta G
Scientific in June 1982 and was under no illusion about the nature
of the company's work in the CBW field. He was transferred to
Roodeplaat Research Laboratories in February 1984. On Basson's
direct orders, Psotta was tasked to synthesise 500g of
methaqualone. Other work done by Psotta was the synthesis of
Paraoxon, Tabun, Monensin and VX, although the latter was a
complicated and difficult process and he progressed only as
far as the first two or three steps. Psotta testified that he
had synthesised paraoxon whilst at RRL. He also tested
the stability of the organophosphate in nicotine and alcohol,
specifically whisky and gin

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/34.html

*************************************

Trial Report : Thirty-Five covers the period Monday
November 13 - Thursday November 16, 2000 - Extracts

Monday November 13, 2000
The only witness of the day was Rein Botha, who was with
the National Intelligence Agency from July 1987 until he retired
as section chief, counter-intelligence, in September 1999.
Botha testified about the trunks of documents found after
Basson's arrest and the process that was undertaken catalogue
these documents. An inventory of documents found was handed
to the court but may not be published or released to the public
since some of the documents may contribute to proliferation.
Initially two trunks of documents were found. According to
Botha, foreign intelligence agencies also helped. The trunks
also contained information and documents dealing with the
weaponisation of certain substances. Botha said there was
evidence that in the late 1980s, a group of British intelligence
agents visited Roodeplaat Research Laboratories under the
cover of being diplomats. Trunk 4 was filled mainly with books
dealing with subjects such as weapons of mass destruction,
biological cultures and toxins. There were also an article on
possible use of a poison dart in the assassination of President
John F Kennedy and reports on special applicators such as
screwdrivers. Botha says the most recent date on any
document in the four trunks was 2 December 1996. This was
a fax found in Trunk 1 to Basson from "Bill", warning Basson
that he was being investigated by the US authorities and
offering him safe harbour at his home outside London.

Tuesday November 14, 2000
The first witness called was Corrie Botha, former production
manager at Delta G Scientific. Botha was the production
supervisor for the manufacture of approximately one ton of
methaqualone (under the code name Mosrefcat) at Delta G.

Thursday November 16, 2000
The first witness called may not be identified or photographed
in terms of a court order, and is to be known as Mr H. On
January 27, 1993, Mr H accompanied Basson on the SA Air
Force flight over the south Atlantic ocean, which has been
certified (by Mr H) as the destruction of chemical substances
held by Project Coast. As the cargo was being placed on
pallets, Mr H made kept a tally of the load - 112 drums in all.
He said he observed the testing procedure from a short distance,
but could see that Basson took samples only from the top layer
of the contents in the four blue drums.

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/35.html

*************************************

Trial Report : Thirty-Six covers the period Friday November
17 - Thursday November 23, 2000 - Extracts

The court did not sit on Friday November 17, nor on Tuesday
November 21, 2000.

Monday November 20
The first witness of the day was Roland Hunter, currently chief
financial director of the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan
Council, who was a National Serviceman from January 1982
until his arrest on treason charges on December 8, 1983.
According to Hunter, between 45 and 60 tons of supplies
were airlifted to Mozambique every month.

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/36.html

*************************************

Trial Report : Thirty-Seven covers the period Friday
November 24 - Friday December 8, 2000 - Extracts

The affidavit by Basson, made on 5 January 1994 states that
he joined the SADF in 1975 and was requested by the Chief
SADF and the Surgeon General in 1980 to act as project
leader for establishment of an offensive and defensive chemical
and biological warfare capacity for the Defence Force "and thus
for the RSA". During 1982, Basson said he submitted a
research and production programme to the SADF's top structure
which recommended :
1. That all three categories of substances
(lethal agents, incapacitants and irritants) would have to form
part of "our" programme, but that the emphasis would have to
be on irritants and incapacitants.
2. That specialised facilities would have to be set up under military
control in order to manufacture and test the substances.

Following approval of the research programme, Delta G Scientific
and Roodeplaat Research Laboratories were established, funded
and controlled by the SA Defence Force. Basson claims that :
"We succeeded in completing the lethal programme fairly quickly,
and perfecting the production techniques."

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/37.html

*********************************

Trial Report : Thirty-Eight covers the period 29 January -
2 February 2001 Monday, January 29, Swiss pharmacologist
Dr David Chu was the 131st witness for the State. Chu, 60,
holds dual Canadian and Swiss citizenship and is of Chinese
extraction. He obtained a B Sc at the University of Manitoba
in 1964, followed by an M Sc in pharmacology and his
doctorate, also in pharmacology, from McGill University in
Montreal in 1972. Chu gained practical laboratory experience
in zoology in Sweden; in cardiology at the Basel Hospital
and Hammersmith Hospital in England before going to work
as a clinical research assistant with pharmaceutical giant
Hoffman-Laroche in Basel, Switzerland from 1978 to 1981.
From 1982 he was self-employed, acting as a consultant
to smaller research companies. He met Basson at a social
function in Switzerland in late 1988, and in 1990, became
managing director of Medchem Forschungs, a company
specifically set up by Basson to promote Roodeplaat
Research Laboratories in Europe as a pharmaceutical
contract research facility. On March 14, 1989 Chu & Basson
signed a contract in Switzerland which gave Chu 16 weeks
to find a market for RRL's services.

Tuesday, January 30, 2001
Cilliers also put it to Chu that he was aware of Basson's contact
with the Libyan Intelligence community. Chu denied this saying
that late in his association with Basson, Basson mentioned that
Libya was a potential buyer for Roodeplaat Research
Laboratories. Cilliers said that proof that Chu knew of Basson's
contact with the Libyan agents was that he had accompanied
Basson on a trip to Tunisia where Basson had met the agents.
Chu denied knowing who Basson met with - saying he had not
been allowed to leave the airport building. Cilliers questioned
Chu about the nature of work done at Medchem Forschungs
and Chu admitted that no work was done at the company.
Cilliers asked Chu about the MAIS corporation saying that it
was situated in the same street as Medchem Forschungs.
Cilliers said that MAIS was a front company for Russian
intelligence agents, and was closely involved in the hiring
out of Russian scientists on a contract basis to the Western
world. Chu denied knowing anything about the organisation.

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/38.html

*************************************

Trial Report : Thirty-Nine covers the period Friday 2
February - Thursday February 8, 2001. Extracts

Friday, February 2, 2001
Advocate Christopher Barend Marlow took the stand.
Marlow and former Delta G Scientific Managing Director, Dr
Philip Mijburgh knew each another, and have been friends,
since "before we went to school". Marlow said the Libyan
railway line project never went beyond the concept stage,
and named those involved as Basson, himself, Mijburgh,
Murgham and Anton Moolman, chief executive officer of
Transnet at the time. Marlow made several trips to Libya,
co-ordinated by Basson, in connection with the proposal.
The company Libgro was set up in 1993/94, with Basson,
Marlow and Mijburgh as directors, specifically to handle
"the Libyan arm of business". Marlow spent 18 months
in Libya in connection with Libgro business.
Monday February 5, 2001
Marlow continued testifying. Marlow said he was aware
that these bonds turned out to be forgeries, and that this
led to Basson's arrest inSwitzerland. [These were the
alleged Vatican bearer bonds which Knobel claimed were
intercepted by Basson in order to secure the purchase
of 500kg of methaqualone from Croatia]. He does, not know
who the beneficial owner(s) of the WPW Group were, but
"can draw certain assumptions" about ownership both inside
and outside South Africa. His assumptions do not include
the possibility of any East Germans, Russians or Libyans.
Cilliers said that Marlow knew about Basson's contacts with
Libya and that Yusuf Murgham is a high-placed Libyan
government official. Marlow said that when he met Murgham,
he was a perfume trader in Zimbabwe.

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/39.html

*************************************

Trial Report : Forty covers the period Monday, 19
February - Friday, 24 February, 2001 - Extract

Monday, 19 February 2001
Supervisory Special Agent Mary Rook, a 17-year veteran
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was called to testify
about the integrity of the chain of custody during the
investigation into the poisoning of Rev Frank Chikane in
1989.

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/40.html

*************************************

Trial Report : Forty-One covers the period Friday,
23 February - Thursday, 1 March 2001 - Extracts

Friday 23 February 2001
Dr. Torie Pretorius, was not required to present legal argument
to support his application to present testimony about the use
of drugs during interrogation
(so-called "chemical interrogation").

Monday 26 February 2001
Dr Phil Meyer, previously barred (earlier testimony November
23, 2000) from testifying about chemical interrogation, returned
to the stand to do so. Meyer was vague about who did
what, and said he could not remember what substance
was used. He said the patient was fully conscious at
first, but became drowsy after administration of the
substance.
Cilliers said that chemical substances were used, for
example, if a patient presented with respiratory distress.
Before a doctor performed a tracheotomy or intubation,
he would first administer pentathol to establish whether
the patient was not, perhaps, a malingerer. Or if a patient
thought he had been poisoned, perhaps was even showing
some symptoms of poisoning, a doctor would first
administer pentathol to establish if the symptoms were
not, perhaps, purely psychosomatic, and so that he could
question the patient about the circumstances in which the
apparent poisoning might have taken place - in other words,
to determine the truth of the patient's condition prior to
administering treatment. Pentathol was used by doctors
as a diagnostic tool, said Cilliers, and the practice was not
at all strange to military doctors working in combat conditions.
[Note: this is by no means an accepted medical practice.
Pentathol is not a diagnostic tool and can't make the
differential diagnosis between malingering and other disease.
There is not any body of scientific knowledge to support it's
"diagnostic" use.]

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/41.html

*************************************
Trial Report : Forty-Two covers the period Friday, 2 March -
Friday, 30 March 2001 - Extracts

The court was not in session between 2 and 12 March, proceedings
resumed on 14 March 2001. Argument was heard from both
the defence and the prosecutors in regard to the dropping of
charges against Basson. The nature of these reports
precludes full reporting of all aspects of the argument and must
be regarded as a summary.

Wednesday March 14, 2001
The defence argument for dismissal of the drug charges was
presented by Adv Tokkie van Zyl, who told the court that the
State had only the word of Grant Wentzel that Basson had
supplied him with the 3 156 capsules of Ecstasy seized
during the three sting operations in January 1997.

Friday March 23, 2001
On arrival in court Adv Cilliers said that he would not be
pursuing the matter of the Sale's List because the State
had provided a satisfactory argument to explain the
apparent absence of the Sales List from the OSEO index.
Monday March 26, 2001
Proceedings began with Judge Willie Hartzenberg informing
the court that in order to save costs, the State's response to
the defence argument for withdrawal of the drug charges
against Basson, will not be taped and transcribed. Written
heads of argument are filed with the court, it is therefore
not a legal prerequisite that verbal arguments be recorded
verbatim. No such cost-saving measure was brought up when
the defence presented its argument, which now is on the
record.
Tuesday March 27, 2001
Prosecutor Torie Pretorius continued presenting the State
opposition to the application for withdrawal of the six drug-
related charges against Basson. To refresh Judge Willie
Hartzenberg's memory, he recapped the testimony of
Steven Beukes regarding the ampycillin capsules.
He also went over the events leading to Basson's arrest
in 1997.
Thursday March 29, 2001
Responding to the State's argument against acquittal on
charges 25 to 30, advocate Tokkie van Zyl stipulated six
points which the State had been unable to explain in claiming
that Basson had supplied Grant Wentzel with Ecstasy
capsules, as per charges 25, 26 and 27.

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/42.html

*************************************

Trial Report : Forty-Three covers the period Saturday,
31 March - Thursday, 5 April 2001 - Extracts

The court was not in session between March 31 and
Wednesday April 4, 2001
Basson's legal team began their argument for the dismissal
of the human rights related charges.
Thursday April 5, 2001
Defence advocate Jaap Cilliers continues to argue for
Basson's acquittal on all the human rights violation charges
(32-63) by challenging the Pretoria High Court's jurisdiction.

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/43.html

*************************************

Trial Report : Forty-Four covers Friday, 6 April 2001

Adv Jaap Cilliers continued to argue for the dismissal of
charges against his client by drawing attention to short
comings in the State's case.
Cilliers said there were several arrests; but suffice to say
that in December 1993 he was arrested in Switzerland,
and in 1995, he was arrested in Libya.

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/44.html

*************************************

Trial Report : Forty-Five covers the period April 23 -
May 7, 2001 - Extracts

The court is currently hearing argument for and against the
dropping of charges against Dr Basson. The court is not
sitting on a daily basis but convenes to hear argument from
the prosecutors and defence team as and when their
arguments have been prepared.
Dr Pretorius, prosecutor on the human rights violation and
drug-related charges, will present his argument in
response to the defence team's request for the dismissal
of these charges on Monday May 14.
Tuesday May 2 and 3, 2001
Defence advocate, Jaap Cilliers told the court that it would
have to reject all the evidence of Florida attorney David
Webster in order to convict Basson on charges 23 and 24,
since the State case relied entirely on the contents of
documents retrieved from his files.

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/45.html

*************************************

Trial Report : Forty-Six covers the period Monday
May 21 - Friday May 25, 2001 - Extracts

Proceedings resumed for the first time since Monday
May 7 with State prosecutor, Torie Pretorius, launching
his response to the defence argument for acquittal on
all the human rights violation charges.
Wednesday May 23, 2001
Prosecutor Torie Pretorius began by clarifying two issues
raised on Monday.
Thursday May 24, 2001
Prosecutor Torie Pretorius continued to argue that Basson
should not be acquitted on any of the human rights violation
charges at this stage, as only he can provide the court with
answers to a number of outstanding
questions.
Friday 25 May, 2001
The final day of argument against acquittal on the human
rights charges saw prosecutor Torie Pretorius focussing
attention on Charge 63, the umbrella conspiracy charge.

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/46.html

*************************************

Trial Report : Forty-Seven covers the period Tuesday
May 29 - Friday June 8, 2001 - Extracts

Adv. Jaap Cilliers responded to the State's argument against
the defence application for the acquittal of Dr Basson on the
human rights violations charges against him.
Cilliers began by attacking the State's argument that the
elimination of enemies of the state could be divided into two
periods : the early period of Operation Barnacle during which
an overdose of muscle relaxants were used in lethal
combination to dispose of "surplus" SWAPO prisoners of war,
and a later period marked by the end of Operation Barnacle
and the initiation of the Civil Cooperation Bureau.
During this second phase poisons produced by Roodeplaat
Research Laboratories were used as assassination weapons.
Monday June 4, 2001
Undeterred by Judge Willie Hartzenberg's earlier suggestion
that he abandon further attempts to argue for Basson's
acquittal on the fraud charges, defence counsel Jaap Cilliers
proceeded to do so.
Tuesday 5 June, 2001
The State response to argument for acquittal on 10 of the
fraud charges, was delivered by Werner Bouwer.
Wednesday June 6, 2001
Judge Willie Hartzenberg raised a number of concerns about
the State's case, leading to a series of sharp exchanges
between himself and prosecutor, Werner Bouwer.

Friday June 8, 2001
The final day of argument in the acquittal phase saw
prosecutor Werner Bouwer addressing the legal point
raised earlier by the judge, namely if the equipment
itemised by Basson had, in fact, been acquired by Project
Coast, even if not necessarily with the funds he claimed
were used for specific items, wherin lies the fraud ?

Judge Willie Hartzenberg will hand down his decision on
whether or not to acquit Basson on all or any of charges
2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 17, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,
29, 30, 32-35, 36, 37, 38, 38-41, 42-44, 45, 47-50, 51, 52,
53, 56, 57 and 59 on Monday, June 18.

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/47.html

*************************************

Special Trial Report : Monday 18 June 2001 -
the acquittal of Basson on 15 charges - Extraxts

This is a special report on Judge Willie Hartzenberg's
decision to acquit Dr Wouter Basson on 15 of the 46
charges the state brought against him in 1999.
The report provides a detailed breakdown of the charges
on which Basson has been acquitted and those which
he still faces.
Judge Willie Hartzenberg has given no reasons for his
decision to acquit Dr Wouter Basson on 15 of the 46
charges against him. The Judge will include his reasons
for the decision into his final judgement at the end of the
trial.

Full report :
http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/cbw/47specialreport.html

********************************************

These reports have been prepared by Chandré Gould
and Marlene Burger.
Chandré Gould is a research associate at the Centre
for Conflict Resolution working on the Chemical and
Biological Warfare Research Project.
Marlene Burger is monitoring the trial as part of the
CCR Chemical and Biological Warfare Research Project.
The Chemical and Biological Warfare Research Project
is funded by the Ford Foundation, the Friedrich Ebert
Stiftung and the Norwegian Government.

Centre for Conflict Resolution, UCT, Private Bag,
Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
Tel: (27) 21-4222512 Fax: (27) 21-4222622
Email: mai...@ccr.uct.ac.za

**********************************************

PRETORIA 25 May 2001 Sapa

BASSON CLAIMS HE RESIGNED,
DENIES CONTRACT TERMINATION
Unacceptable conditions at Pretoria Academic
Hospital's heart unit caused cardiologist Dr Wouter
Basson to resign, and reports that the Ministry of
Health had terminated his services were incorrect,
the SA Defence Force's former chemical warfare
expert said at the Pretoria High Court on Friday.
Cornered by the press during a lunch break, Basson
commented on the health department's announcement
that he had been suspended at the end of February.
The State has not yet begun arguicommenced argument
on Basson's application for his acquittal on the fraud
charges against him. The trial continues.

Full article :
http://www.anc.org.za/anc/newsbrief/2001/news0528.txt

**************************************

5 December 2001 - Document A/1758
Assembly of Western European Union
European Security and Defence Assembly
Chemical & Biological weapons control
http://www.assemblee-ueo.org/en/documents/sessions_ordinaires/rpt/2001/1758.
pdf

***************************************

3 November 2001

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT
BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

South African Scientists Have Experience
With Anthrax Development

CNN's Charlayne Hunter-Gault reports on South
Africa's link to the use of anthrax as a weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT
(voice-over) :
When South Africa's White minority regime was trying to
hold back the anti- apartheid activists of the 1980s,
government scientists worked in secret to develop anthrax
as a weapon of terror.

MICHAEL ODENDAAL, SCIENTIST PROJECT COAST :
I was given a pack of Camel cigarettes, and I was requested
to drop some of the drops onto the filter of the organism
-- on the cigarettes.

HUNTER-GAULT :
Michael Odendaal made that admission before South
Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1998.
Scientists also said they put anthrax in peppermint
chocolates, and developed over 45 strains of virulent
anthrax, part of a search for the deadliest poisons
nature and science could produce.

The hearings retold the project at the super-secret
Rudeplatte Research Laboratories was sponsored by
the South African military. Code-named Project Coast,
it was led by a noted heart surgeon, Wouter Basson,
nicknamed Doctor Death. He and his aides were trying
to find a killer without a trace.

SCHALK VAN RENSBURG, SCIENTIST,
PROJECT COAST :
The most frequent instruction we obtained from Doctor
Basson and Doctor Swanicol (ph) was to develop
something with which you could kill an individual, which
would make his death resemble a natural death, and that
something was to be not detectable in a normal forensic laboratory.

HUNTER-GAULT :
Daan Goosen is a veterinarian and pathologist who
worked under Doctor Death.

DAAN GOOSEN, SCIENTIST, PROJECT COAST :
We were in a war situation, and a weapon is a weapon.

HUNTER-GAULT :
Before the new post-apartheid government took over,
the military ordered the scientists to destroy their work,
all their documents, all the specimens, all the anthrax
stored in the deep freeze.

The new government says it took the officials of the old government in good
faith, and believes the anthrax and
other germ warfare threats were destroyed, but...

MOSIUOA LAKOTA, MINISTER OF DEFENSE :
One has to accept that there is always a remote possibility
in anything; a remote possibility that one or the other
elements might not have hit the light of day.

HUNTER-GAULT :
As the Truth and Reconciliation hearings were told...

FAZEL RANDERA, TRUTH & RECONCILIATION
COMMITTEE, 1998 :
A culture is produced that goes into somebody's fridge,
and nobody knows what happens.

HUNTER-GAULT :
Wouter Bisson is now on trial for a number of charges,
including attempted murder related to his research, and
for manufacturing designer drugs. CNN asked for an
interview, but Basson so far declined the request.

So long in scientific exile, Goosen has become a
long-distance Sherlock Holmes, following the anthrax
murders in the U.S. by TV and Internet.

GOOSEN : The technology -- the level of technology
used in these attacks in the United States is not of the
most sophisticated ones. My deduction from that is that
the scientific devices behind these attacks are about the
1970 technologies.

HUNTER-GAULT : In the secret labs, Goosen and his
fellow scientists also worked to develop antidotes to
anthrax; work he'd like to resume.

GOOSEN : And we would absolutely die to be involved
in the controlling or preventing these types of things at
the moment. It's, for me, personally, very traumatic for
now about 20 years being involved with biological and
chemical weapons. I can tell you it's a strain. And it's
sometimes difficult to bear. But it would definitely be
-- we would be happy to now assist in solving some
of the problems here.

HUNTER-GAULT (on camera) : No one pursuing the
anthrax story is allowed to videotape inside the former
Rudeplatte Research Laboratories just down this road,
where a new generation of scientist is working on how
to protect the nation's food supply from the common
pests of Africa.

Those in charge insist the past is the past and should
be left there. The scientists who worked there in the
past disagree, arguing that past just may help fight
against the kind of biological weapons they pioneered.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault, CNN
(END VIDEOTAPE)
More :
http://64.12.50.249/TRANSCRIPTS/0111/03/cst.14.html

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