Booysen, co-accused to challenge wrongful prosecution
Former KZN Hawks head, Johan Booysen says he and his former colleagues from the now disbanded Cato Manor Serious and Violent Crimes Unit will now turn their attention to dealing with what he says was their malicious prosecution.
The Sunday Times yesterday admitted to having not done its homework properly before publishing a series of articles - alleging Booysen and the unit operated a 'death squad'.
The newspaper apologised for this matter and for its dubious reportage on the SARS rogue unit and Zimbabwean renditions.
The case against Booysen and his former colleagues is still before the courts.
"The only problem to sort out now is to solve malicious prosecution against us. It's clear from the report that this whole thing was orchestrated by rogue elements within crime intelligence. They utilised the state apparatus to neutralise us. I feel vindicated but we are not out of the woods yet," Booysen said.
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He says the implications have been far-reaching.
"It has been a difficult time for my colleagues and myself. You can imagine if this happened to you and you know that you're innocent. It's taken its toll - three of the members have died. A lot of them have been affected in a grave way," he said.