[1] Nicknamed "Dr. Death" by the press for his alleged actions in apartheid South Africa, Basson was acquitted in 2002 of 67 charges, after having been suspended from his military post with full pay in 1999.
[2] Among other charges, Basson was alleged to have supplied a "lethal triple cocktail of powerful muscle relaxants which were used during Operation Duel (the systematic elimination of SWAPO prisoners of war and South African Defence Force [SADF] members who posed a threat to South African covert operations).
After his preliminary report, Basson became the head project officer and began to work on the country's chemical and biological weapons capability.
[6] Project Coast secretly researched chemical and biological warfare in violation of the international BTWC agreement.
Infadel dealt with those on a smaller scale and concentrated on financing and administration of other units and possibly channelling funds between military and research facilities.
That included a large amount of ecstasy and Mandrax that were apparently exported or allegedly sold to drug dealers in communities active in the anti-apartheid movement (cf.
Basson was officially retired and hired to dismantle the project, and allegedly profited when some of the South African front companies were privatised.
In 1993 the Office of Serious Economic Offences (OSEO) began to investigate Basson's business dealings in an unheard of seven-year forensic audit.
In 1995 the South African government hired Basson to work for Transnet, a transportation and infrastructure company and possibly for other more secretive jobs.
In 1996, South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) began to investigate the SADF and determined that the army had probably used lethal toxins against ANC activists.
TRC began to investigate Project Coast which led them to suspect that Basson had sold his secrets to governments of countries like Libya and Iraq.
In 1997 they asked the help of the Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa (NIZA) whose investigation report was included in the Truth Commission Files.
[1] While his lawyers constantly interrupted the questioning with legal technicalities, the Commission determined that Basson had been the primary decision maker in Project Coast and should be put on trial.
He stated that he had learned about weapons of mass destruction from Saddam Hussein, that he had indeed had free rein in the project and that he had exchanged information with foreign governments.
In his judgement, the judge called the state's case "fragmented and confusing", and that it was largely superficial, hoping to convince the court of Basson's guilt in a manner which fell far short of the standard "beyond reasonable doubt".
[citation needed] After his release, Basson continued to travel all over the world as a guest speaker, and has founded his own private medical practice.
In June 2005, a group of Swiss investigators questioned him about illegal trade in weapons and nuclear material and asked the South African government to stop cooperating with him.