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Updated April 2005
Biological Chronology
As of May 28, 2009, this chronology is no longer being updated. For current developments, please see the South Africa Biological Overview.
2000-2005
28 February 2000
A masked assailant shoots James Patrick Riley, co-owner of an Irvine, California company called Biofem, Inc., in the head. Three days later, his business partner Dr. Larry Ford is found dead in the upstairs bedroom of his home, the apparent victim of a gunshot suicide. Investigators soon learn that Ford had apparently arranged to assassinate his partner, secretly poisoned patients and former mistresses, and threatened to poison other business associates. They are also shocked to discover that he had stockpiled an arsenal of small arms, C4 explosive, blasting caps, and over 260 containers of biological substances on his property, some of which contained V. cholerae, Salmonella typhi, ricin, and botulinum toxin. On Ford's property the police also find one of the special assassination devices made by South African armorer Phil Morgan at the QB Laboratories, which provides physical proof of Ford's connection to Project Coast. Documents recovered by the Irvine Police Department from Ford's home and office further indicate that he had contacts with certain right-wing militia groups in the US, raising concerns that he may have supplied them with dangerous BW materials.
— Edward Humes, "The Medicine Man," Los Angeles Magazine (July 2001), pp. 96-99, 166-68; Stephen Burgess and Helen Purkitt, The Rollback of South Africa's Biological Warfare Program (USAF Academy, Colorado: USAF Institute for National Security Studies, 2001), pp. 34-7; 11 July 2002 phone conversation with investigative journalist Michael Reynolds.
18 June 2001
Judge Hartzenberg acquits Basson of 15 of the remaining 46 charges brought against him in 1999. He provides no explanation for why he has rendered this judgment, but promises to do so at the end of the trial.
— Centre for Conflict Resolution, Basson Trial: Weekly Summaries of Court Proceedings, October 1999-April 2002, week 47 special report.
25-26 September 2001
In his continuing trial, Wouter Basson says "Project Jota was not, as has generally been assumed, simply a new name allocated to Project Coast. ...[F]rom 1992, Jota was the name of the defensive component of the CBW project, while Coast continued to be the offensive arm." Prosecutor Anton Ackermann points out that this is the first time "that a clear distinction has been drawn between projects Coast and Jota."
— "Proceedings in South Africa: The Continuing Trial of Wouter Basson," The CBW Conventions Bulletin, No. 54 (December 2001), p. 26.
11 April 2002
Basson is acquitted of the rest of the 46 criminal charges by Judge Hartzenberg, who dismisses the evidence of all 153 witnesses and argues that the state has not proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Basson's defense attorney Jaap Cilliers estimates that the 30-month trial cost the state 125 million rand, and Basson argues that it would be a waste of even more money to appeal the verdict. Critics of apartheid are astonished and angered by the verdict, and many demand that an appeal be filed so that a less partisan judge can hear the case.
—Centre for Conflict Resolution, Basson Trial: Weekly Summaries of Court Proceedings, October 1999-April 2002, [final] special report; "The long and costly road to acquittal," Sunday Times (14 April 2002); Chris McGreal, "'Dr. Death a free agent once again," The Age (14 April 2002); "Revenge of South Africa's 'Dr. Death'," BBC News Online (12 April 2002).
10 March 2004
The Constitutional Court of South African rejects the state's request for "leave to appeal against the acquittal of Wouter Basson." Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson states, however, that Pretoria High Court presiding judge Willie Hartzenberg's "decision not to recuse himself...was a constitutional matter as the impartial adjudication of disputes in both criminal and civil cases is the cornerstone of any fair legal system." Furthermore, the court rules that "there was a constitutional obligation on the state to prosecute offences that threatened the rights of citizens and an international obligation to prosecute crimes against humanity," referring to the six charges against Basson dropped because they related to crimes committed outside of South Africa.
— The CBW Conventions Bulletin, No. 64 (June 2004), p. 35.
15 September 2004
Ten employees of the Water Affairs and Forestry Department are decontaminated on-site and then admitted to Pretoria's Unitas hospital for observation after an envelope containing a powdery substance is opened at the Department's offices. The envelope is taken for testing and the building is reopened following decontamination procedures. The hospitalized employees display no symptoms and are discharged the following day.
— "Further on RSA Anthrax Threat: Laboratory Tests Results To Be Known 'Next Week,'" Johannesburg SAPA, 17 September 2004, in FBIS document AFP20040917000088.
20 September 2004
Forensic test results reveal that a substance found at the Water Affairs and Forestry Building in Pretoria on 15 September 2004 is not anthrax.
— "Preliminary Report Declares 'Substance' in Pretoria Incident Not Anthrax," Johannesburg Radio 702 in English, 20 September 2004, in FBIS document AFP20040920000064.
5 November 2004
South Africa's Constitutional Court reserves judgment regarding "the state's application for an order granting the possibility of a re-trial of" Wouter Basson, in order to give both the prosecution and defense additional time to submit written arguments.
— "News Chronology: November 2003 through February 2004," The CBW Conventions Bulletin, No. 63 (March 2004), p. 17.
3 December 2004
The South African Revenue Service building is evacuated following an anthrax scare, promoted by "a smell from a leaking air conditioner,"
— "Police Report Anthrax 'Scare' at Revenue Service Offices," Johannesburg SAPA, 3 December 2004, in FBIS document AFP20041203000071.
28 January 2005
The United Kingdom releases its third quarterly report on Strategic Export Controls, covering the period 1 July to 30 September 2004. The report notes the issuing of licences for export to South Africa of the following items: "components for biological agent detection equipment, NBC respirators, components for NBC respirators, NBC clothing, NBC decontamination equipment, components for NBC respirators, civil NBC equipment."
— Strategic Export Controls: Quarterly Report - July to September 2004, (January 2005), pp. 125-126, www.fco.gov.uk/ Files/ kfile/ strategic export controls julsep2004.pdf.
This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for
Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and
does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently
verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2010 by MIIS.
