Witnesses hit out at Arms Deal Commission

Paul Holden, one of the so-called arms deal critics says failure by the former chief of acquisition at defence, Chippy Shaik, to testify at the inquiry probing the multi-billion rand armaments contract - will be a "travesty of justice".

Holden, who has written two books on the arms deal, is one of the witnesses who's been subpoenaed to testify during the second phase of the Commission.

Lawyers for Human Rights, who represent critics, Holden, Andrew Feinstein and Hennie van Vuuren, today issued a statement expressing concern regarding what they term the limited access to witness statements and secrecy surrounding Armscor witnesses.