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Self-proclaimed leader of the National Christian Resistance Movement, Harry Knoesen.
- Two members of the right-wing group National Christian Resistance Movement have been found guilty and sentenced for planning and planning terrorist attacks.
- Eric Donald Abrams and Erroll Abrams were sentenced to eight years in prison for their part in planning the attacks.
- The group, also known as the Crusaders, wanted to overthrow the government and also planned to kill black people, targeting informal settlements.
Two members of the National Christian Resistance Movement, who were plotting the murder of blacks and the overthrow of the government, have been sentenced to eight years in prison for planning terrorist activities.
Eric Donald Abrams, 55, and Erroll Abrams, 50, appeared in Middelburg Regional Court on Tuesday, where they were found guilty and convicted in connection with the violation of the Constitutional Democracy Protection Against Terrorism and Matters Act. Related.
The two men, who are part of the right-wing group, also known as the Crusaders, were preparing and planning to carry out terrorist attacks against government institutions, including police stations and military equipment.
His plans also included the murder of black people, which included the attack on informal settlements.
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The attacks were planned for November 28, 2019, Hawks spokesman Col. Katlego Mogale said in a statement.
The Hawks arrested both men in November 2019 and have been in custody ever since.
Mogale said the court on Tuesday found both men guilty of six counts, including planning terrorist attacks, financing of terrorism and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
They received the following sentences:
- Charge 1: 15 years in prison, of which seven were for preparing and planning to carry out terrorist attacks.
- Charge 2: Five years for the financing of a specific crime (terrorism).
- Count 3: Five years for illegal possession of a prohibited firearm.
- Count 4: Five years for illegal possession of a firearm.
- Charge 5: Five years for illegal possession of ammunition.
- Charge 6: Five years for illegal possession of more than 200 cartridges.
Both men were effectively sentenced to eight years in prison, as all sentences were ordered to run concurrently with the sentence for preparing and planning to carry out terrorist attacks.
“The court further ordered in terms of Section 103 of the Firearms Control Act, that both defendants are not fit to possess firearms, ammunition, certificates of competence, licenses, authorizations and permits,” Mogale said .
The head of the Hawks, Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya, praised the team of investigators and prosecutors for the work that had been done so far.
Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed leader of the Crusaders and alleged main orchestrator, Harry Knoesen, was expected to appear in Mpumalanga High Court in February 2021, to set a trial date after he pleaded not guilty.
Harry Knoesen.
Supplied
Knoesen, a former pastor and soldier from Mpumalanga, was arrested after he posted videos and allegedly held meetings to carry out his plan.
A fourth defendant, Riana Heymans, allegedly “radicalized”, was also arrested, but the charges have since been dropped.
Knoesen reportedly recruited members and discussed his plans with members disillusioned with the current government.
He was said to have used WhatsApp, Facebook and a messaging platform called Telegram before moving on to in-person meetings, News24 previously reported.
READ ALSO | Accused of terrorism, leader of the crusaders will spend Christmas behind bars
The leader of the crusaders also reportedly asked a person who used to be in the security forces for help in obtaining weapons, telling him that everything was ready for the “coup.”
News24 reported that Knoesen postponed the attacks to November 28 in order to recruit more members, yet the Abrams brothers were “so radicalized” that they nonetheless decided to carry out an attack on November 29, 2019, at midnight. .
Harry Knoesen.
They were arrested before the attacks could be carried out.
At the time, the Hawks said components and ingredients for making pipe bombs, as well as unlicensed firearms and ammunition, were seized.
A search of Crusader-linked property in the Eastern Cape also revealed an explosives factory.
The attacks would target Middelburg, Brakpan, Centurion, Roodepoort, Randburg, Nelspruit, Bethlehem, Brits, Ermelo, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Meyerton, Muldersdrift and the Sterkfontein Dam.
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