Johan Theron (born c. 1943) was a former information officer in South Africa's

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

government's

Special Forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

. Theron testified before South Africa's High Court during the trial of

Wouter Basson Wouter Basson (born 6 July 1950) is a South African cardiologist and former head of the country's secret chemical and biological warfare project, Project Coast, during the apartheid era. Nicknamed "Dr Death" by the press for his alleged acti ...

for human rights crimes. Theron told the court that he had personally caused or supervised the murders of over 200 anti-apartheid political prisoners between 1979 and 1987. He claimed that the murders were merely a part of his job. At the conclusion of the

trial in 2002, the presiding magistrate, Justice Hatzenburg, refused to grant Johan Theron indemnity from prosecution. Subsequent to the Basson trial, Theron never bothered to apply for amnesty from the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as he was never formally charged with the crimes he claimed to have committed.

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Afrikaner people South African military personnel 1940s births Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{SouthAfrica-bio-stub