Censorbugbear reports...

Ratte – weakened by hunger-strike since Oct 1 arrest – released on R2,000 bail

• 9kg fire extinguisher ‘made to look like a bomb’ found outside Witbank court where arrested ex-32nd Battallion commander Willem Ratte appeared

Monday November 1 2010 12:45 - PRAAG and Beeld newspaper report commander Willem Ratte, weakened by his hunger-strike since his Oct 1 2010 arrest – was released on a mere R2,000 bail by the Witbank court. The hearing was temporarily held up by the SAPS clearing the building after finding a “fake’ bomb  in a rubbish bin at the entrance of the law-court of Witbank where the arrested former 32nd Battallion commander Willem Ratte was scheduled to appear. 

“It’s unlikely that Afrikaners were responsible for this bomb”, writes Praag.

PRAAG WRITES: “Due to the fact that all the appearances of these ten arrested people were attended mostly by Afrikaner supporters, (picture above of Witbank court at previous Ratte hearing)  it would be unlikely that the bomb would have been planted by Afrikaners', writes PRAAG.

The story was confirmed by the SAPS – who said the court was barred and evacuated temporarily. SAPS spokesman Eddie Hall said a 9kg fire-extinguisher which ‘looked like a bomb’, with a pipe attached to batteries and a watch,’ was sent to the SAPS Pretoria forensics department for ‘further tests.’

PRAAG WRITES: "Instead the finger of suspicion points at the ANC-regime itself and possibly the national intelligence service - to disrupt Ratte's appearance today. The expectation was that Ratte would be released from his illegal custody today because the state, after a full month of incarceration, still has not been able to formulate any charges against (the former 32nd Battallion commander).”

PRAAG saw the fake-bomb incident as ‘merely an attempt to keep Ratte in prison so that he can starve himself to death. He launched a hunger-strike shortly after his arrest and refused to accept any counsel from worried family and friends to start eating again. He says he’s innocent of any wrongdoing and the SAPS raid was carried out without any arrest warrants.”

Ratte was released on R 2,000.00 bail.  He was so weak that he was forced to apply for bail, said a friend. “It was against his belief to ask for bail, but now he had to do it.” http://www.praag.co.za/nuus-magazine-402/afrikaanse-nuus-magazine-401/8962-bom-in-hofsaal-vir-ratte-saak-gevind.html

 Picture above: Willem Ratte at his previous court appearance – weakened by a hunger-strike, he refuses advice from worried relatives and friends looking on from above, to start eating again. He’s protesting against the fact that he was arrested while totally innocent of any charges. The SAPS has held him incarcerated ever since his arrest on October 1 2010 – and has yet to formulate any charges against him or the other 9 Afrikaner men arrested with him. http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/2010/10/sa-military-hero-dying-of-hunger-in.html

http://www.nuus24.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Ratte-saak-Fop-bom-buite-hof-gevind-20101101

Sunday Independent gagged by judge Ephriaim Makgoba – forbidden to reveal facts about  nepotism amongst top ANC-politicians…

Tamas S. Kiss  writes in the Budapest Report: Saturday, October 30th, 2010 - South Africa’s minister of police, its national commissioner and its divisional commissioner of crime intelligence have reportedly convinced the nation’s high court late Friday (29 Oct 2010) to stop the Sunday Independent newspaper from publishing information about dodgy appointments within the crime intelligence division, the periodical announced in a statement late Saturday (30 Oct 2010).

They added that it allegedly took the allegedly biased judge Ephriaim Makgoba “minutes” to rule on the application in the absence of the publication’s legal advisers.

Under the censorship ruling the Sunday Independent has been gagged from publishing a follow-up story of alleged nepotism among top South African policemen --  under the direct influence of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party.

Reportedly the publication was also ordered to submit all documents concerning the investigated police’s discrepancies and to pay the legal costs.

Ironically the South African Parliament has not yet passed its planned Protection of Information Bill or Media Censorship Bill, which is currently under discussion by a committee there.

• It seems that the committee has not yet defined what “classified information” implies.    Budapest Report http://www.budapestreport.com/2010/10/30/south-african-court-tries-to-mum-sunday-independent-newspaper/trackback/