Five white supremacists in South Africa who plotted to assassinate Nelson Mandela and push all non-white people out of the country received 35-year sentences in prison, after a trial that lasted more than 10 years.
According to the Daily Mail, a High Court in capital city Pretoria gave shorter sentences than expected to a handful of 21 members of the "Boeremag" - a group of apartheid loyalists who reportedly attempted a 2002 coup that ultimately failed, and let to their arrest.
Nine of the accused were released with no charge, after being jailed for 11 years.
During the extensive trial, witnesses told the jury that the Boeremag planned to kill Mandela, who was South Africa's first black president, and arguably the most prominent figure of the anti-apartheid movement. Members of the group planted a bomb on the road that Mandela was scheduled to travel along 11 years ago. But the assassination plot fell through when Mandela traveled by helicopter rather than on the ground.
Some of the members of the Boeremag were named responsible for nine explosions at a few sites in October 2002. Most of the bombs were detonated in the southern city Soweto. One woman died as a result of the blasts.
The prosecution testified that the Boeremag members met at barbeques and fast food outlets to talk about their plans to kill Mandela. During these covert meetings, some members submitted ideas to get rid of South Africa's black majority by putting food parcels on the line that divides it from Zimbabwe. Some also reportedly planned to send the nation's 1.2 million Indians back to their country of origin by boat.
Mike du Toit, the alleged leader of the assassination plan, was convicted first in 2012 for high treason. The former university lecturer received 35 years in prison for his crime.
Tensions between races in South Africa have been strong since the end of apartheid rule in 1994.
