The assistant editor of the Star Africa News Service Deon Du PLESSIS was sentenced to an effective jail term of six months and fined R250 in September.
Du Plessis was jailed for contravening the Official Secrets Act and Defence Act by receiving a file of secret military signals sent from Namibia to Pretoria and to have given these signals to a member of an unspecified foreign secret service. Twelve months of his 18 months sentence was suspended.
On other charges relating to a book du Plessis wrote about the Rhodesian war 1977-8 he was fined R250 for passing secret information to a publisher. A further charge, for which the sentence was six months (suspended) was that of attempting to publish a rumour, illegal under the Defence Act.
Du Plessis was allowed bail of R2500 pending appeal.
