S Africa to sentence 20 extremists

A South African court yesterday began sentencing 20 right-wing extremists convicted of high treason for a plot to kill Nelson Mandela and drive blacks out of the country.
The "Boeremag" organisation had planned a right-wing coup in 2002 to overthrow the post-apartheid government.
All 20 accused were convicted of treason, but only five of murder and the plot to kill Nobel peace laureate Mandela, South Africa's first black president.
The state is seeking life sentences -- expected to be handed down today -- for the group's leaders and bomb specialists, and 10 to 15 years in prison for the other defendants. South Africa does not have the death sentence.