campaigner to counter-sue manuel  
09 April 2008
 
This will be in response to Manuel's efforts to place a permanent gagging order on Crawford-Browne to prevent him from implicating Manuel in arms deal corruption, or from making any related defamatory statements about him.  Crawford-Browne said that while he was accused of defaming Manuel, he, in return, wanted a court to review new evidence which he said would prove the arguments behind his counter-claim against Manuel.

Manuel was granted an interim gagging order against Crawford-Browne recently, and has now filed papers urging the Cape High Court to make the order permanent. Crawford-Browne has 10 days to announce whether he will oppose this attempt.  'There is no money for fuel, for mechanics buying war planes we can't even fly is bizarre'

On the future of the arms deal, Crawford-Browne said he would also support some kind of "arms deal TRC" has been proposed.  And he wants the contracts for 24 British fighter jets, and 28 Swedish fighter jets, not yet delivered, to be cancelled. He said clauses in the contracts made provision for cancellation if there had been proven bribery or corruption, which he believed there had.

"There is no money for fuel, for pilots, for mechanics buying war planes we can't even fly is bizarre," Crawford-Browne argued. The battle between Manuel and Crawford-Browne is now entering its eighth year.

Asked what it was that Manuel was trying to gag him from saying, Crawford-Browne said he wanted to make certain loan agreements public to show their links to the arms deal.
Crawford-Browne said he would be represented by attorney Charles Abrahams and advocate Peter Horthorn, acting pro bono.

This article was originally published on page 5 of Cape Argus on April 09, 2008 

Murray Williams, www.iol.co.za