Late veteran advocate was involved in first Timol inquest

Veteran advocate Fanie Cilliers SC who has died at the age of 81 was involved in the first inquest into the death of anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol.

Cilliers was regarded‚ for decades‚ as one of the top commercial advocates in South Africa. He was the most senior silk at the Johannesburg Bar‚ having earned silk status in June 1976.

He was admitted to the bar in April 1964 and listed commercial law‚ competition law‚ intellectual property and patent law as his areas of expertise.

He was involved in the 1972 inquest into the death of Timol‚ who died in police custody at John Vorster Square in 1971. The inquest found that he had committed suicide by jumping from the 10th floor of the building.

In his book titled No One To Blame? In Pursuit of Justice in South Africa‚ veteran advocate George Bizos recorded that Cilliers had come to him and advocate Isie Maisels to say that he considered it his duty to bring to their attention the fact that police had handed him a document with instructions to use it‚ but he had refused to place the document on record.

The document‚ known as “Inkululeko Freedom” was created to appear as if it had been authored by the Communist Party. It advised detained members of the party to complain about ill-treatment and assaults that had not happened and to commit suicide rather than betray their comrades.

Bizos said the document had been drawn up for the purpose of the Timol inquest. The last paragraph of the document was described by Bizos as “self-serving for the police propagandists”. He added in his book that Cilliers did not say that he believed it to be a forgery. He could hardly have said so because only his clients (the police) really had an interest in forging such a document‚ said Bizos.

“But [he] indicated that he considered this last paragraph defamatory‚ and since his colleagues were involved‚ he felt that he should not make it public‚” Bizos said.

During the second Ahmed Timol inquest in July last year‚ former minister for intelligence services Ronnie Kasrils testified that this document‚ which the magistrate relied on in the first inquest in 1972‚ had been doctored.

Prof Michael Katz‚ chairperson of ENSafrica‚ said on Monday morning that Cilliers died on Sunday evening following a heart attack earlier at the weekend.

According to Katz‚ Cilliers had a keen interest in quantum physics and was also a great golfer.

But more than merely being a great legal mind‚ Cilliers was also "a refined gentleman"‚ he said.

- Additional reporting from BusinessLIVE.