God had supposedly ordered him to: a white South African pastor was sentenced Wednesday, September 28 to life in prison for preparing "
terrorist
" attacks against "
Africans
" and aimed at overthrowing the government, the prosecution announced .
Self-proclaimed leader of the far-right National Christian Resistance Movement (NCRM), Harry Knoesen, 64, "
has been found guilty of preparing and planning terrorist attacks
," the National Prosecutor's Office (NPA) said in a statement.
He was twice sentenced to life in prison and an additional 21 years in prison.
This decision cannot be appealed.
"Overthrow the government"
These projects of "
attacks against non-white people
" targeted in particular the townships, deprived neighborhoods resulting from apartheid and regrouping mainly blacks, as well as the police and the army.
But Harry Knoesen was arrested before he could carry them out in November 2019. According to the NPA, the accused, who had pleaded not guilty, explained that “
God had commanded him to reconquer South Africa for the whites
” .
.
"
These thoughts strongly marked by racism
" pushed him to want to "
overthrow the government and indiscriminately kill Africans
", according to the NPA.
The pastor was also convicted of inciting, soliciting or recruiting people to carry out attacks, as well as illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
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During his arrest, documents related to the preparation of the attacks were discovered and weapons seized.
In particular, he had studied the possibility of using biological weapons with the aim of “
infecting and killing members of the African population
”, further specifies the prosecution.
Two other members of the NCRM, the brothers Errol and Eric Abrams, who admitted the facts, were also arrested and convicted in this case.