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. 96-9, 166-8; 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).

March 2003
African Amines, a subsidiary of the South African Oil from Coal Company (SASOL) exports 120 metric tons of dimethylamine to Iran. Dimethylamine can be used as a precursor for the nerve agent tabun (GA) or missile fuel. Dimethylamine also possesses a wide range of legitmate commercial uses including the production of detergents and pharmaceuticals. The shipment is of particular concern as the receiving company is Sasadja Moavenate Bazargani which has been placed on WMD end-user watch lists by the German and Japanese governments and is suspected of involvement in Iranian missile programs.
--"How Sasol firm sold WMD chemicals to Iran," Mail and Guardian Online, 18 February 2005, <http://www.mg.co.za>; "RAS: Oil-From-Coal Company Affiliate Reportedly Exported WMD Chemicals to Iran," FBIS document AFP20050218000095, 18 February 2005, <http//:www.fbis.gov>.

5 November 2003
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.
--The CBW Conventions Bulletin, No. 63 (March 2004), p. 17.

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.

November 2004
In South Africa, African Amines agrees on a plea bargain with the South African government in which the company admits that "it knowingly exported 120 tonnes of a substance called dimethylamine to Iran in March 2003 without a permit issued by the Council for the nonproliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction." The company is fined R100,000 (c. $17,000 USD). It appears that the requirement that exporters of dimethylamine obtain an export permit was introduced after African Amines contracted to supply the chemical but before the shipment actually took place. Although African Amines applied for an export permit it did not wait for a permit to be issued before shipping the chemicals to Iran.
--"How Sasol firm sold WMD chemicals to Iran," Mail and Guardian Online, 18 February 2005, <http://www.mg.co.za>; "RAS: Oil-From-Coal Company Affiliate Reportedly Exported WMD Chemicals to Iran," FBIS document AFP20050218000095, 18 February 2005, <http//:www.fbis.gov>; "Sasol affiliate fined for unlicensed Iran exports," Business Report, 21 February 2005 <http://www.businessreport.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=2418146>.

29 November to 3 December 2004
At the Conference of the States Parties meeting of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), South African Ambassador Ms. Priscilla Jana urges States Parties to address the need for "policy guidance on the overall framework for the implementation of Article XI" and increased budgetary allocations for international cooperation and assistance programs.
--Statement by H. E. Ms. Priscilla Jana to the Ninth Session of the Conference of the States Parties of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, 29 November 2004, <http://www.opcw.org/docs/csp9/southafrica.pdf>.

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: "chemical agent detection equipment (2 licences), components for chemical agent detection equipment, NBC respirators, components for NBC respirators, NBC clothing, NBC decontamination equipment, chemical agent detection equipment, components for NBC respirators, civil NBC equipment and corrosion resistant chemical manufacturing equipment."
-- Strategic Export Controls: Quarterly Report - July to September 2004, (January 2005), pp. 125-126, <http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/strategicexportcontrolsjulsep2004.pdf>.

	Updated April 2005