SA League of Former Police, Soldiers and Officals back Boeremag quest for autonomic homeland

SA League of Former Police, Soldiers and Officals back Boeremag quest for autonomic homeland

Mariette le Roux - Dec 2 2002 -- Pretoria - A group campaigning for 'the restoration of law and order in South Africa' placed its hopes in the Boeremag organisation that was said to have claimed responsibility for the recent 12 bomb attacks in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

The SA League of Former Police, Soldiers and Officials said: "The further handling of this matter is now left in the hands of the Boeremag.

Picture, left: Protest in Pretoria, 2002 -- Tens of thousands of Afrikaners and Boers have held protest marches which have always remained peaceful -- yet their latest formal application to hold another protest march in Pretoria this Friday is being discarded by the ANC-regime.

"The regime has closed the road to peaceful protest, and we are left with no choice but to turn to harsher options," said League spokesman Dries Kriel. He added that their members " now would actively work with the Boeremag."

Asked if this meant they would plant bombs, he said: "I cannot say that. It will be a decision for every individual."

In a statement the group claimed the state had not yet granted it written permission for a peaceful demonstration it had planned to hold at Pretoria's Church Square on Friday - despite repeated requests for confirmation of an oral go-ahead.
It has now given up on the planned protest.

The group also claimed the state had failed to act against certain Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging "agents provocateur" whom it had unmasked.

These agents, it claimed, were involved in bomb attacks before the 1994 general elections.

The league was also unhappy about what it described as the authorities' failure to act against more than 500 "ANC (African National Congress) murderers and terrorists who did not receive amnesty".

It was furthermore aggrieved by the fact that police illegally searched the homes of two of its leaders in a raid on Friday linked to the probe into the recent bombings. Police had no legal search warrants.

"Our attempts to act in line with the guidelines of the Constitution have been deliberately sabotaged by the (ANC-ruled) bureaucracy.

"What choice do we have left but to operate underground from now on and throw our lot in with the Boeremag?"
Kriel said the organisation wanted to place on record its past attempts to work through official channels so this could be used as evidence should any "Boerekrygers" (Boer warriors) be prosecuted in future.

He declined to elaborate on the league's membership figures, saying only the body was made up of former AWB members, former soldiers, police and public servants, and farmers, among others.

Eighteen alleged Boeremag members are to stand trial next year in connection with what the ANC regime claims is an alleged coup plot. Eleven people also were arrested in police raids this week.

Police in Kenya twice detained and interrogated two Independent Newspapers journalists at the weekend in their hunt for the Paradise hotel bombers.

Police were still holding six Pakistanis and four Somalis on Sunday in connection with the atrocity near Mombasa which left nine Kenyans and three Israelis dead, and a further 40, mostly local people, injured.

Another two suspects travelling on American passports, and said to hail from Florida, were arrested following the attack after allegedly trying to check out of a hotel in a hurry. They were freed at the weekend.

During the second detention of the Independent team of Beauregard Tromp and Mujahid Safodien on Sunday afternoon, the South African government was asked to intervene.

The department of foreign affairs in Pretoria alerted its high commission in Nairobi to ascertain their fate and secure their safety.

"About 10pm on Saturday, I and photographer Mujahid were at a local bar frequented by foreigners, playing pool. We were informed by staff that we were being sought outside. Out of view of clientele, two policemen, recognisable only by tags on their shoulders, instructed us to wait, refusing to explain further.

"One by one, three more men were led out of the bar - two seemingly of Eastern origin, and an East African. A man dressed in civilian garb joined us and asked us to move across the road so that he could speak to us.

"Once across the road, he insisted that we walk down a pitch-dark, tree-lined grove. We refused, fearing for our safety, but the man warned: 'You can come with us, or I can force you to come,' while one of the policemen, carrying an AK-47 rifle, moved closer.

"We were led into a police station. Our captors refused to answer any of our questions, such as why we were being held."
Police then questioned each of the five men, ordering them to remain silent when not being questioned.

Appeals to be allowed to make telephone calls to South Africa, and embassy officials in Nairobi, were met with "Forget about it".

The five were repeatedly pressed on their identifies, reason for being in Mombasa, race and religion. Appeals in the name of human rights were ignored, and cellphones were confiscated.

"It seemed clear we were being detained because we appeared to be of Middle East origin," said Tromp. "In the police courtyard I discovered that my fellow captives were a Muslim student, an Indian salesman, and a Somali car dealer and police informer.

"Two hours later we were forced to drive our hired vehicle and three policemen to our hotel, where they went through our rooms. They seized our passports. Seemingly satisfied that we were bona fide journalists, they then forced us to drive them back to the station, where we heard further threats that we could still be detained for 24 hours.

"Now armed with his camera, Safodien attempted to take pictures. He was accosted by three policemen, who wrestled it off him. Safodien was manhandled, and has bruises on his arms and ribs. His assailants would not give their names.
"We were eventually released after three hours, and escorted to the roadside. We were instructed to collect our passports in the morning.

"About 11am we were taken to the central investigation department in downtown Mombasa. With our cellphones still with us, we managed to contact our office in Johannesburg.

"At the conclusion of a second interrogation, police said they had detained us on the basis of an informant's information. They did not elaborate."

The fate of the other detainees remains a mystery. Tromp's inquiries about their fate were met with: "You look after your rights, don't worry about anyone else's."

For Safodien, who was recently detained and interrogated for three days in Israel, this was nothing new.
Tromp said while in detention he recalled the words of Judge Richard Goldstone, who commented recently that perhaps the greatest victim since September 11 and the worldwide "war on terrorism" had been basic human rights. - Independent Foreign Service

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