APARTHEID CONFESSIONS 'NECESSARY' !
Mr Vlok was in charge of security in South Africa during the late 1980s. A top presidential aide in South Africa has said those behind apartheid-era crimes should come forward and confess so their victims could find closure.
Rev Frank Chikane was speaking a day after former Police Minister Adriaan Vlok and his police chief were charged with plotting to kill him in 1989.
Mr Chikane was not interested in seeing the alleged conspirators jailed so much as learning about the attempt, he said.
Prosecutors say police tried to line Mr Chikane's clothes with a nerve toxin.
Last year, Mr Vlok went to Mr Chikane to ask his forgiveness, washing his feet in an act of contrition.
On Monday the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) charged the former minister, his police chief Johan van der Merwe and three other police officers, in connected with the alleged attempt.
Many families want to know how their children died - Rev Frank Chikane.
Mr Chikane, who is now director-general of President Thabo Mbeki's office, has called for others to reveal what happened, but he has never called for prosecutions.
Reacting on Tuesday to the prosecution, he said:
"It is important that we close this chapter, not by forgetting... but by getting people to tell their story and make sure it never happens again in future.
"Many families want to know how their children died and children also want to know what happened to their parents who were killed."
Open court
The case is due to be heard in court on 17 August.
The NPA accuses the five defendants of conspiring to murder Mr Chikane when he was secretary-general of the South African Council of Churches.
They allegedly attempted to assassinate the clergyman by placing underwear impregnated with a powerful nerve toxin in his suitcase while he was travelling.
A spokesman for the NPA said a case like this must be dealt with in an open court.
Mr Vlok and Mr van der Merwe were in charge of law and order in South Africa during the late 1980s, a period when emergency laws granted police sweeping powers of arrest and detention against anti-apartheid activists.
The BBC's Peter Greste in Johannesburg says the assassination attempt was one of the most striking cases of the apartheid regime's attempt to silence its opposition.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Rev Frank Chikane was speaking a day after former Police Minister Adriaan Vlok and his police chief were charged with plotting to kill him in 1989.
Mr Chikane was not interested in seeing the alleged conspirators jailed so much as learning about the attempt, he said.
Prosecutors say police tried to line Mr Chikane's clothes with a nerve toxin.
Last year, Mr Vlok went to Mr Chikane to ask his forgiveness, washing his feet in an act of contrition.
On Monday the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) charged the former minister, his police chief Johan van der Merwe and three other police officers, in connected with the alleged attempt.
Many families want to know how their children died - Rev Frank Chikane.
Mr Chikane, who is now director-general of President Thabo Mbeki's office, has called for others to reveal what happened, but he has never called for prosecutions.
Reacting on Tuesday to the prosecution, he said:
"It is important that we close this chapter, not by forgetting... but by getting people to tell their story and make sure it never happens again in future.
"Many families want to know how their children died and children also want to know what happened to their parents who were killed."
Open court
The case is due to be heard in court on 17 August.
The NPA accuses the five defendants of conspiring to murder Mr Chikane when he was secretary-general of the South African Council of Churches.
They allegedly attempted to assassinate the clergyman by placing underwear impregnated with a powerful nerve toxin in his suitcase while he was travelling.
A spokesman for the NPA said a case like this must be dealt with in an open court.
Mr Vlok and Mr van der Merwe were in charge of law and order in South Africa during the late 1980s, a period when emergency laws granted police sweeping powers of arrest and detention against anti-apartheid activists.
The BBC's Peter Greste in Johannesburg says the assassination attempt was one of the most striking cases of the apartheid regime's attempt to silence its opposition.
posted by jackaranda at 5:33 pm
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