ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 12, 1996 TAG: 9610140041
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA
SOURCE: Associated Press
With the simple words, ``All accused are not guilty,'' a judge acquitted one of the apartheid regime's most feared leaders Friday of murder and conspiracy - and exposed anew South Africa's deep racial divisions.
The acquittal of former Defense Minister Magnus Malan and 15 others accused of slaughtering opponents of white rule brought angry protests from many blacks and re-opened the debate on how to best uncover apartheid-era crimes.
``South African law has been like this, and it's always going to be like this. Murderers go free,'' said Mbusi Ntuli, whose father and three sisters died in a hail of automatic weapon fire at the home of his brother, an anti-apartheid activist.
They were among 13 people who died in a 1987 massacre in the KwaMakutha township. The attack - part of Malan's so-called ``total onslaught'' campaign against anti-apartheid groups - was the centerpiece of the prosecution's case.
But Supreme Court Justice Jan Hugo, reading his ruling over two days, said there was insufficient evidence to prove the 16 defendants planned and took part in the attack.
President Nelson Mandela moved to head off black fury Friday, promising those guilty of the KwaMakutha killings would face justice.
``Judicial findings, based on cold and dispassionate analysis of the evidence put before it, must be respected even, or especially, by those who are aggrieved by these findings,'' said a statement from Mandela's office.
Malan, 65, was the mastermind of the ``total onslaught'' campaign against anti-apartheid groups inside the country and in neighboring states while serving as defense minister from 1980 to 1991.
In an irony bound to strike a bitter chord among blacks, Malan called his acquittal Friday ``an example of how a democracy ought to function in a civilized country.'' Malan also thanked Mandela for ignoring calls from former white leaders to intervene, saying, ``Due to him, we were able to defend ourselves in a court of law.''
LENGTH: Short : 46 linesby CNB