The FXI gained a significant legal victory yesterday when the full transcript of the bail record of Dr Wouter Basson released to the public without excisions. The Attorney General's office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the South African National Defence Force and the Council for Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, conceded that there was no longer any justification for censorship of any part of the bail record and settled the case in the Pretoria High Court. They also agreed to pay the FXI's legal costs incurred in the two year battle and the settlement agreement was made an order of court.

Basson was signalled out in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report as the key player behind South Africa's covert chemical warfare program during the apartheid era. The State respondents had been opposing public release of the bail record since February 1997 on various grounds relating to state secrecy, non-proliferation and the administration of justice. The FXI continued to challenge the arguments of the State after winning partial release of the bail record in 1997 in a court application instituted together with the Independent and Times Media newspaper groups.

Basson is now facing criminal charges relating to murder, serious economic offences and drug peddling. The Attorney General's office also gave the FXI an undertaking to conduct the upcoming criminal trial of Basson in open court wherever possible. The A-G also undertook to provide reasonable notice in court of any intention to lead witnesses or evidence in camera, if this became necessary during the trial.

The victory vindicates the FXI's position of principle that denial of access by the public to official or legal proceedings must always be justified by the State in accordance with the rights to free speech and access to information contained in the South African Constitution.

ISSUED 2 MARCH 1999

(For further information and copies of the bail application contact Laura Pollecutt at the above number during office hours and 083 604 1073 after hours)