The Man Who Knows Too Much

Who is Wouter Basson? Is this white South African just a respected cardiologist without any blood on his hands or on the contrary comparable to someone like Dr. Mengele? The enigmatic Basson, nicknamed Dr. Death, caused a scandal in 1998. Basson is the former head of Project Coast, the biological and chemical weapons programme of the apartheid regime. One of the aims of this programme was the development of bacteria that kill only black people, vaccines that make black women infertile and a hypothetical substance that would kill people without leaving a trace. Basson had to stand trial in one of the most expensive and lengthy lawsuits ever held in South Africa. 43 charges were brought against him, including eighteen murders, conspiracy and intimidation, 24 cases of theft and fraud (amounting to some four million dollar) and possession of drugs. Basson was also alleged to be involved in the death of around two hundred SWAPO guerrillas, whose bodies were thrown from a plane into the Atlantic Ocean. In March 1999, the marathon trial against Basson started, in April 2002 he was acquitted. The documentary The Man Who Knows Too Much casts doubt on this acquittal by means of testimonies on the street and at the scenes of the crime. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)