Terrorism plot: accused denies all

11.06.2012.Johannes Jacobus Scheepers, who faces 10 charges including terrorism leaves the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court yesterday Picture: Sizwe Ndingane

11.06.2012.Johannes Jacobus Scheepers, who faces 10 charges including terrorism leaves the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court yesterday Picture: Sizwe Ndingane

Published Jun 12, 2012

Share

‘Call me a terrorist because members of the new government were all terrorists before they came into power.” This was what a right-wing suspect and founding member of the Nuwe Boerekommando (“New Boer Commando”) allegedly told an undercover agent.

Johannes Jacobus Scheepers, 49, has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges, including illegal possession of firearms, possession of handmade hand grenades, possession of a mortar and terrorism.

He was arrested in April 2010 after police suspected he was planning terrorist attacks at 2010 Fifa World Cup stadiums and to fire mortars into townships.

The charge sheet says he planned these activities between December 16, 2009 and April 7, 2010.

Prosecutor Torie Pretorius asked the court to hear the evidence of two agents in camera. He said their information was sensitive and “they feared for their lives and those of their families”.

Initial testimony to be given by the two agents would serve as background to the investigation that led to the arrest of Scheepers, he said.

An agent, known to the court only as “Mr A”, testified that he had met Scheepers for the first time in August 2009 on his Bapsfontein farm. Mr A said the meeting was “suspicious” and he initially thought it was a test set up by his handlers at Crime Intelligence.

“I immediately reported to my handlers after the meeting and they assured me it was no test,” he said.

Mr A told the court he was asked to remove the battery of his cellphone and to leave it in his car. His body was scanned and he was told a white-noise generator would be used during the meeting.

Scheepers told him he wanted him to provide his group with military training in small groups.

“Scheepers took out a hunting knife and said if I was a spy he would kill me,” Mr A said.

It is alleged that Scheepers and the group were testing mortars. If the test runs proved successful, mortars would be fired into townships and then World Cup stadiums would be targeted.

Mr A told the court that during a trip on December 16, 2009 to the Voortrekker Monument, he had a conversation with Scheepers and another member, Anton Celsi, that led him to believe Scheepers was serious about the threat to fire mortars into townships.

Scheepers’s counsel, Dirk Human, argued that the State’s evidence had been obtained in an illegal manner. Also, evidence had been planted.

Human said all evidence pointed to the group – which had not been well established at the time – not being a threat to national security.

“They were a group without any direction. You hooked them like a trailer pulling them into a specific direction,” Human said.

Mr A testified how he had seen and handled several weapons at Scheepers’s Bapsfontein home. The weapons included R1s, R4s, R5s and a crossbow.

According to the charge sheet, a shotgun, M3 semi-automatic, several 9mm pistols, ammunition, tear gas, and hand grenades, among other arms, were found at Scheepers’s home.

Mr A said Scheepers once told him that many of the weapons came from a friend who owned a gun shop. The friend had moved to the US. Scheepers said he had cleared out the shop. He had also joked that the insurance company had paid out in full.

According to evidence before the court, Scheepers was convinced that a war would break out soon and he wanted to be prepared.

Mr A said it was vital that his next evidence be given in camera as it was “extremely sensitive”. His life would be at risk should his name be disclosed.

Scheepers remains in custody.

The case continues.

Pretoria News

Related Topics: