South Africa:Former South African cabinet minister Adriaan Vlok and four other apartheid-era security officials walked free from court yesterday despite being found guilty of the attempted murder of a prominent black rights activist 18 years ago.
Vlok, a former law and order minister, and his co-accused were all given suspended sentences for the crime following a plea bargain with the state.
Theirs is the first of a series of trials planned by National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) against the perpetrators of apartheid-era crimes who have yet to atone for their actions.
In a statement released to the Pretoria high court, the five accused said other former members of the security forces should come forward with information in a bid to aid reconciliation.
But they stressed a need for the NPA to be even-handed in its affairs amid claims that those members of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) who were implicated in killings had been let off lightly. Vlok was standing trial with former police chief Johann van der Merwe and three lower-ranking police officers for the attempted murder of Rev Frank Chikane, a former head of the South African Council of Churches.
Rev Chikane, who now works as an adviser to South African president Thabo Mbeki, fell seriously ill after absorbing a nerve agent through his clothing in 1989.
Vlok, who is now 70 and deeply religious, washed the feet of his victim in a show of remorse last year. At the end of yesterday's trial, he shook hands with Rev Chikane and left the court exclaiming: "Obey the lord and he will heal our land."
He later declared that his apartheid-era crimes were motivated by a fear of communism taking over South Africa . "We believed we were fighting a very, very bad enemy - the communists. I would fight them again," he said.
Both Vlok and van der Merwe were sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, suspended for five years. They will not have to spend any time in prison if they commit no crimes for those five years. The three other accused were given five-year terms, suspended for four years.
A group representing thousands of people who "disappeared" or were murdered by the former security forces protested outside the court at what they perceived to be a lenient sentence.
A counter-protest was staged by members of the Afrikaner-led AfriForum organisation, which is seeking the prosecution of a number of ANC leaders.
Attention is now switching to other apartheid-era ministers, including former president FW de Klerk. The Nobel laureate has been accused of lying to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) by, among others, Eugene "pure evil" de Kock, the former commander of a police murder squad who is serving a 212-year sentence.
De Kock has described Mr de Klerk as an "unconvicted murderer", but the former president denies the charge, saying last month "my conscience is clear".
In another indicator of South Africa's attempts to deal with the past, the government has announced plans to turn the Vlakplaas death camp outside Pretoria into a healing and reconciliation centre. Almost 8,000 people are believed to have been tortured and killed at the facility, which had been run by de Kock.
Meanwhile, Mr Mbeki has taken issue with those elevating sacked deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge to "superheroine" status for her strong stance on HIV/Aids. He said she "had very little to do" with national strategic plans on the issue.