Boeremag pair’s appeal is rejected

THREE years after being sentence to 25 years’ imprisonment, two of the Boeremag members – brothers Wilhelm and Johan Pretorius – have made an unsuccessful bid for leave to appeal against their sentences and convictions on treason and related charges.

They entered the high court in Pretoria yesterday under the watchful eye of heavily armed correctional services guards. They were shackled and fitted with stun belts in case they decided to make a dash for freedom.

They conducted their own case and stated they had an uphill battle with legal aid to obtain the advocate who promised to represent them. They were unable to obtain all the documents for their application and were only recently allowed access to a computer.

Although the pair’s hopes were dashed when Judge Eben Jordaan refused them leave to appeal, they vowed to take their chances by petitioning the Supreme Court of Appeal.

They were aggrieved about their lengthy sentences, but the judge concluded that they were in proportion to their convictions.

The brothers listed why the court should allow them permission to appeal their convictions. These included that they had an unfairly long trial – more than 10 years – did not have legal representation at times and that the court refused to regard them as prisoners of war.

In refusing leave to appeal, Judge Jordaan said he thought the Boeremag trial was the longest in the world, until a colleague told him that there had been a longer one in England.

He said the duration was not the court’s fault, as many of the 23 accused had launched various applications. The judge added that every time they had grievances, he had tried to come to their aid.

He said they did not qualify to be prisoners of war as they were not in a legitimate war.