But AWB had more bullets than 'terror-accused siblings', says lawyer

19 July 2016 - 08:26 By GRAEME HOSKEN

One group was armed with enough ammunition and weapons to supply heavily armed soldiers, the other had barely enough ammunition to arm a policeman for patrol duty. Yet, two members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, arrested on Saturday with 3000 rounds of ammunition and numerous guns, were only charged with the illegal possession of unlicensed ammunition and firearms.It is this that the lawyer for siblings Ibrahim and Fatima Patel - arrested in recent police anti-terror raids - finds questionable.The Patels, together with twins Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie, 24, were arrested in anti-terror raids after the Hawks obtained search-and-seizure warrants.The twins appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court today.The Patels appeared briefly in the Kagiso Magistrate's Court yesterday on charges of illegal possession of ammunition and explosives. Yousha Tayob, the Patels' lawyer, said Fatima was found with 21 rounds of ammunition. Ibrahim had a stun grenade."It's strange that we have people arrested with thousands of rounds of ammunition, yet they are not charged with terrorism-related activities, yet my clients are. We want to know why."Tayob said his clients might have been "reckless, negligent and foolish", but such possession was not "terror-related"."A Free State farmer was found with an arms cache, the same with those [AWB] this weekend, but he hasn't been charged with terrorism."Unisa criminologist Professor Anthony Minnaar said while the intent and ideologies of the two groups, along with evidence gathered, could play a role in the charges, the state should pursue terrorism charges against the AWB members.Institute for Security Studies expert Johan Burger said: "With terrorism investigations, it is not just about what evidence investigators have, but what indications there are in terms of the suspects' intentions to carry out certain acts with the evidence gathered, such as firearms and ammunition."..

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