Missing De Kock interdict puzzle

Eugene de Kock appeared in public for the first time in years when a judge ordered the State to bring him to court. File photo: Leon Muller

Eugene de Kock appeared in public for the first time in years when a judge ordered the State to bring him to court. File photo: Leon Muller

Published Apr 17, 2015

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Johannesburg - To get out of jail, Eugene de Kock allegedly had to agree to effective detention by state officials.

This emerged in papers filed in an urgent high court application this week, in which De Kock’s lawyers want the court to order that the State produce him within 24 hours, saying they were refused access to De Kock, that he was being held illegally in a “safe house” that was effectively a prison, and that he was illegally deprived of his parole.

De Kock is apparently being held by the State Security Agency.

“He advised that he had been given an ultimatum by government officials that unless he accepted their proposals and conditions, he would not be freed from prison or released on parole.

“He is therefore being held against his will by respondents, not formally in prison and not formally on parole, without any legal grounds whatsoever,” Pretoria attorney Julian Knight says in an affidavit supporting the application.

Knight is acting for De Kock.

The application is against Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha and State Security Minister David Mahlobo. Neither ministries nor Knight were available for comment.

The papers indicate that the application was due to be heard on Thursday, but it was not, and the court officials could not say when it would be heard.

The application also called for De Kock’s lawyers to be allowed direct access to him, and for him to be released on parole immediately with “fair and reasonable” parole conditions.

It’s a habeas corpus application, which is a legal demand to produce a missing person so that the court may decide whether his detention is legal.

De Kock, the former Vlakplaas police hit-squad commander, served 18 years for apartheid-era crimes, including murder, after being sentenced to two life terms and 212 years.

On January 30, Masutha said De Kock would receive parole. But Knight said he had not been able to consult with De Kock.

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The Star

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