Special Hearings — Chemical And Biological Warfare Hearings — 1998-07-07

DR MIJBURGH: He was not involved in the scanning in of this as far as I can recall.

MR VALLY: So he wasn't involved at all?

DR MIJBURGH: No, he was part of that project in the sense that he was the person who gave the instruction.

MR VALLY: What date was this?

DR MIJBURGH: It must have been approximately 1992/'93.  I'm speaking under correction now.  It could have been later as well.  I do not have documentation to prove this.

MR VALLY: The person responsible for the project you say was Doctor Basson?

DR MIJBURGH: He was the Project Officer, yes.

MR VALLY: Project Officer, where all this information is put on optical discs?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: Through Data Images.

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: I see.  And you don't know what's on those discs?

DR MIJBURGH: All the research documentation of Delta-G.  I'm sure, I do not know whether anything of Roodeplaat was put on this but Delta-G's research results, all the reports, were captured in totality on those discs.

MR VALLY: Did you ever look at those discs yourself?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: Since those items were captured on a disc and locked up in a safe, are you aware of anyone who has actually looked at those discs?

DR MIJBURGH: I do not know.

MR VALLY: How is it that Data Image Information Systems got this contract?

DR MIJBURGH: There was a request that this be scanned in and I think that was during the period when the research was on strike and it was dealt with, or had to be kept together in a manageable way.

MR VALLY: Who did the request come from?

DR MIJBURGH: From the Defence Force.

MR VALLY: And how did it go to Data Image Information Systems?

DR MIJBURGH: Excuse me?

MR VALLY: How did the instruction, how did you get - I assume they paid you for this?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: How did you get the contract?

DR MIJBURGH: I'm speaking under correction, but if I remember correctly there was a front company Sefmed who had computer equipment.  This company was disbanded and Data Image bought all their computer equipment and their general office equipment and this front company was closed down.
 This was done per contract so that for the duration of the contract, approximately 18 months, all the research information - and I cannot remember which companies it included, whether it was Roodeplaat or just Delta-G.  It included Defence Force documentation as well.  There were masses of printed literature which was also scanned in and it was not only from Delta-G, there was Defence Force documentation

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Vally?

MR VALLY: Dr Mijburgh I gave your attorneys a document over lunch and it was minutes of a meeting held on the 2nd of December 1994. Have you had a chance to look at that document?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes I have.

MR VALLY: Now you advised us you were not aware of the purchase of methaqualone from Croatia. Is that correct?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: Do you see point 4 on there?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: It has to do with the claim for travel by you, D J Truter and C Malo and it was according to this to give support to Brigadier Basson during the handling of his matter in Switzerland and or to give evidence there. Do you see that?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: What were you going to give evidence about?

DR MIJBURGH: I was never there to testify. I was there in support of Dr Basson when he was arrested in Switzerland. I was under the impression that it was in connection with financial documents, forged financial documents as a result of which he was arrested.

MR VALLY: Are you aware that this was a transaction where a few million dollars, US dollars was involved in paying the Croatians for the purchase of 500kg of Methaqualone?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: What were the financial documents in relation to?

DR MIJBURGH: So far as I understood it there were bonds which had been forged and which were found in Dr Basson's possession on previous occasion. This refers specifically to the time he went back for the court case and I then went with him to assist him should he be rearrested.

MR VALLY: What was your task going to be besides giving moral support?

DR MIJBURGH: To act as a communication channel. The whole case was treated as being extremely confidential and I was to be a communication channel.

MR VALLY: To whom?

DR MIJBURGH: To the defence force.

MR VALLY: Who specifically?

DR MIJBURGH: I can't remember specifically whom I would have contacted but I am assuming that I probably would have liaised with Colonel Ben Steyn.

MR VALLY: But there was Mr Truter there and Mr Malo there.

DR MIJBURGH: I don't think all those people were there at the same time. I think this refers to separate occasions. As far as I know I was the only person present on this particular journey.

MR VALLY: Well the explanation relates to all three of you as you can see from that minute.

DR MIJBURGH: Yes correct.

MR VALLY: What I need to know is are you saying that at all times you were ignorant of the fact that the financial aspect of this transaction related to the purchase of Methaqualone from Croatia? You did not know this?

DR MIJBURGH: No I had no knowledge of that. It is the first I have heard of it.

MR VALLY: It sounds highly improbably that you would go all the way to Switzerland to support Dr Basson and not know this (...indistinct) fact.

CHAIRPERSON: Do you have any reaction to that?

DR MIJBURGH: No Chairperson I was under the impression that he had been arrested for possession of forged financial documents.

MR VALLY: You mean you never discussed the case with Dr Basson?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: You went all the way to Switzerland to support a man for a case and you didn't discuss the case with him?

DR MIJBURGH: What was told to me, what he specifically told me was that he had been arrested for possession of forged documents.

MR VALLY: That is it, that is all he told you?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: And you are not aware of 500kg of Methaqualone being purchased from Croatia and delivered to Delta-G?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: So to all intents and purposes that 500kg of Methaqualone may have gone somewhere else but it did not come to Delta-G?

DR MIJBURGH: I am not aware of the fact that it went to Delta-G.

MR VALLY: Let's go on to (...intervention)

CHAIRPERSON: Ms Sooka?

YASMINE SOOKA: Dr Mijburgh can you tell me what the form of support was that you were rendering to Dr Basson?

DR MIJBURGH: I drove there with him and he appeared in court. I cannot remember exactly how many days the court hearing took. It wasn't published, made known in South Africa and there was the fear that he would be arrested again because he had been arrested on a previous occasion. So I had to communicate back to South Africa in this regard.

YASMINE SOOKA: But you are not a lawyer per se. You are a doctor.

DR MIJBURGH: No I was purely there as a communication channel. I was not there to be a legal support for him.

YASMINE SOOKA: So it was in the nature of emotional and friendly support?

DR MIJBURGH: No I think it was because the matter was so extremely sensitive that is why I was asked to accompany him. It was extremely confidential matter and treated as such and it was not commonly known in South Africa that he had been arrested.

YASMINE SOOKA: You see what I find surprising is that if the matter was one which was so sensitive and you were supposed to be the communication channel then I find it very difficult to believe that you were not entrusted with the details of what the matter was actually about.

DR MIJBURGH: I had nothing to do with the handling of the case itself.

YASMINE SOOKA: Yes I just find that it is very difficult to believe that you would be the person who would communicate with people in South Africa but you don't know the nature of the charges that are actually being brought against Mr Basson. Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: Dr Randera?