SOUTH AFRICA: A South African judge yesterday acquitted a germ warfare mastermind of the apartheid era, Dr Wouter Basson, dubbed "Dr Death", on all 46 charges - ranging from murder to fraud and drug dealing - he had faced during a 30-month trial.
The 51-year-old heart surgeon's alleged activities during the struggle against apartheid were described at the time as "diabolical" by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
The acquittal was widely predicted in the media but nevertheless many South Africans were shocked when the critical passages of Judge Willie Hartzenberg's judgment of more than 1,000 pages were delivered in the High Court.
Dr Basson, who served in the South African Defence Force as a medical doctor during the armed struggle between the previous government and black nationalist guerrilla forces, was an expert on chemical and biological warfare.
He was originally indicted on 67 charges ranging from murder, assault and fraud, including the mass murder of captured Swapo guerrillas during the war in South Africa's neighbouring state of Namibia.
But by the time the judge delivered his verdict, 21 of the charges had been withdrawn or thrown out. Of the remaining 46 charges, 18 were for murder, conspiracy, assault and intimidation and the remainder for fraud, theft and possession of the drug Ecstasy.
Legal counsel for the state reacted with shock, as did African National Congress sympathisers in the public gallery. Those in the public gallery included the former minister of defence, Mr Magnus Malan, and the former chief of the defence force, Gen Constand Viljoen. Dr Basson served under both.
The leader of the state prosecuting team, Mr Anton Ackermann, said he would apply for leave to appeal. Dr Basson was alleged to have developed drugs specifically designed to sterilise or kill black people only.