EUGENE DE KOCK - Part 10

Email to James, Ben and Dewalt

22/04/2015

Gentlemen - it was never about the money - I used that to get the info we wanted out of him. (info I wanted out of JK). All I asked him was "How much would it cost for you to get EdK out on parole tomorrow" JK thinks I am stupid and I prefer to keep it that way.

I read that you say it is not prudent to change lawyers now Ben. However, there is no harm with two or three other clear thinking lawyers having a look and giving another opinion. (and they are not charging us/me) I will revert with the responses later today. In the meantime let us see if JK allows me to speak to EdK at 4.30pm today as promised. A few members have asked me where they can pay money in for E. I gave them the original account that Miempie gave. xxx

(This is what used to piss me off with James Marx – he was always the echo of Ben. If Ben said jump, Marx would do or say the exact same thing. What use was he really? He would even delete posts of mine, without even telling me the reason. I felt that he had absolutely no respect for my intelligence. He pissed me off regularly)

On 21 April 2015 at 19:19, James Marx wrote:

I agree with Ben. JK must get his payment from the state as E is still in their custody and not on parole as stated by the minister. As far as anyone is concerned there is no money for legal costs. (and I rest my case about Marx)

On 21 April 2015 at 15:34, Dianne Lang wrote:

“I think he knows his costs are excessive and that is why he is prepared to negotiate depending on how much cash we have - which I will tell him we have fuck all but in a really nice way. Expecting a call from him and from the other lawyer. The Regshulp Raad is only available before you go to court and not after the event. Are you satisfied that the money he received was actually from us or did it come out of Piet's pocket as is assumed by JK”.

Now I realized we were dealing with a crooked lawyer (asking for money when he had said he would do it for nothing in exchange for the media coverage he would get) and secondly, we also now knew that the advocate was not charging us either. The phone call that JK promised me that EdK would make from his office never happened. I was right about JK being slack and no one knew that he was also representing Clive Derby-Lewis at the same time. For sure, EdK did not know that. What kind of lawyer were we dealing with? Between visits from ANC to my bedroom, and phoning the presidency daily and writing letters, I was looking for a good lawyer that could take over from JK. I did not know how I would do that without EdK’s knowledge but I knew I would find a way.

Back at the prison, Eugene got to see the Mama family which got a lot of coverage in the media – this being one of the conditions why Eugene’s parole had been denied. The Correctional services had not completed the necessary forms of those victims that Eugene had seen, and JK did not check his papers before going to court. Eugene had to spend more months in prison because the Department of Correctional Services and JK had not done their jobs properly.

Our small, but effective Operation Free EdK was itching to go, but we decided to wait until the next hearing. If Eugene did not get parole, we were going to take him out ourselves. Every eventuality was in place. (No one knew of this – not even Ben). I think if he had known he would have flown to SA to put masking tape over my mouth.

I was also having financial problems that came with my health issues during this time, and Jim Hooper sent me some money to use for myself for medications. How or who started the rumour that I was piggy backing on Eugene to make money for myself, who knows? But I had already enough enemies in PP, JK and TM for any one of them to start this shit. I spoke to our alternative lawyer, Conrad Kruger, who never asked for a penny and he took over. We used Eugene’s brother, Vos, as the conduit to enter into the fray to find out about Eugene. The silence surrounding Eugene was ominous. Through one of my sources I heard that persons unknown had removed Eugene from his cell three days before the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masutha Judge withheld parole for Derby-Lewis but gave Eugene de Kock parole. I therefore know the outcome of the decision but even this was not shared with anyone. This is how I knew “The train has left the station”. It was therefore no news to me that parole had been granted.

However, when no one heard from Eugene, and I had contacted TM and JK and they had not heard, my mind did summersaults faster than my stomach. How easy it would have been to take him out? Both TM and JK placated me with “he is out on parole” so there is no need for any more lobbying. I was frightened for his safety and a few days later I again contacted JK to find out where exactly Eugene was and who were the people who had removed him from his cell three days before he was officially given parole. He did not know which means that he was not on top of the case. With my urging, he agreed to try to find his client. Well, what do you know – straight to the media it went (his payment). He was given parole on the 20 January and yet, not one person knew where he was. By March, I was beside myself with worry and got hold of JK to do something about it immediately. He seemed quite calm and unperturbed but he did make sure that his name was again in the newspapers.

CRIME & COURTS / 20 March 2015, 07:52am

Louise Flanagan

Johannesburg - Eugene de Kock is out of jail but still in custody. In a situation reminiscent of apartheid-era activity, De Kock has apparently been secretly handed over to the security forces for indefinite detention.Now his lawyer is planning to use a legal weapon not much used since the apartheid era’s mass detentions – a writ of habeas corpus, which is a demand to the authorities to produce a missing person in court so that the court can decide whether his continued detention is legal.Eugene de Kock's lawyer is still trying to find him. (Great comfort from the lawyer JK)This week, the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services, the State Security Agency and the SAPS would not talk about what has happened to De Kock.His Pretoria lawyer, Julian Knight, doesn’t know where he is but has received instructions from him, asking for help.“We are instructed by our client that, to date, he has not been released from custody and has not been handed over to Community Corrections to commence his parole.

“Our client also advises us that he is currently being held against his will,” Knight wrote to Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masutha on Tuesday.

Knight demanded that De Kock be handed over immediately to the Department of Correctional Services’ Community Corrections section, which oversees parolees, given his parole conditions, and that he be released on parole.

“Should you and your department fail to accede to this request, we hold instructions to proceed to court on the basis of urgency for a writ of habeas corpus,” Knight said in his letter.

It is understood that De Kock is being held by security services in a house on the pretext of an undefined threat against him, with no indication of a release date.Protective custody normally requires the consent of the person involved.“They said initially that he was in protective custody because of a so-called plot against him,” Knight told The Star.

“His cell is locked with all his belongings still inside. This is not indicative of a person released on parole… All the paperwork at the prison indicates that he is in the care, custody and control of the SAPS; they have signed responsibility for him.”

While in jail, De Kock has routinely helped the prosecution services with attempts to resolve cases of those who went missing during the apartheid era.

De Kock is a former police officer who commanded the apartheid police hit squad based at Vlakplaas.He was sentenced in October 1996 to two life sentences plus 212 years for offences including murder.On January 30, Masutha announced at a public briefing that he had approved De Kock’s parole.This followed various parole applications by De Kock and court action demanding a decision from the minister. “In the interests of nation building and reconciliation, I have decided to place Mr De Kock on parole,” Masutha said at the time. “He has requested that the actual date and conditions of his release should not be made public. I have acceded to this request.” The decision about keeping De Kock’s release details secret appears to have made the secret handover possible. It is believed he was handed over before the minister’s announcement on his parole. The SAPS did not respond to requests for comment on whether De Kock was in its custody.The State Security Agency referred all queries to Correctional Services.The Ministry of Correctional Services would not comment either.“We have acceded to Mr De Kock’s plea to not give details of his release, so no media enquiries will be entertained on his release except queries on the minister’s decision on his parole,” said ministry spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga.

Now there were rumours that I was using Eugene to feather my own nest. I was very upset about it. Not one penny had I taken for myself and it had in fact, not only cost me time over many years, but had also cost me in postage etc. And on top of all that, I had a niece of Eugene’s giving me a tough time via inbox because she SO LOVED pp and “I had vokol te doen met die familie”. I wondered where the hell she had been all those years. I have a big mouth but a very sensitive heart so her bashing me and on top of that being accused of taking money for Eugene for my own use was very soul-destroying for me. I remember crying bucket loads of tears because of that. It was during one of these very tearful phone calls that Hannelie told me about Conrad Kruger. I even remember that Hannelie gave me some airtime and that we talked while I was in hospital in Bloemfontein. Three months after his release on parole, no one had heard from Eugene, not even his brother, Vos.

Conrad said he would take on the case and represent Vos, and in that way, find where Eugene was without JK getting his cock in a knot. Of course, I was also upset about being accused of taking money meant for Eugene.