South Africa's apartheid-era police minister Adriaan Vlok has received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to attempting to murder a leading black activist cleric in 1989.
Vlok and his former police chief Johann van der Merwe were given 10-year prison sentences, with five years suspended, while three lower-ranking policemen were given five-year terms, with four years suspended.
All the accused had pleaded guilty to attempting to murder anti-apartheid activist Frank Chikane, now advisor to President Thabo Mbeki, by poisoning his underwear. Mr Chikane was present in court when the men pleaded guilty.
Protestors outside the Pretoria High Court demanded that Vlok be prosecuted for other abuses when he was in charge of police during apartheid.
