Dutch fugitive, Guus Kouwenhoven, says he is chronically ill and has a life expectancy of only 3 years.
75-year-old Kouwenhoven is applying for bail in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court after his arrest in the city last week.
Kouwenhoven has been convicted in the Netherlands for selling weapons to Liberian warlord, Charles Taylor.
He was sentenced in absentia in the Netherlands to 19 years for being an accessory to war crimes.
Kouwenhoven used his timber companies as a cover to smuggle arms into Liberia between 2000 and 2003.
His defence, Laurence Hodes SC says his arrest in Cape Town, on a warrant issued by Interpol, comes amid an uncompleted overseas legal process.
He says Kouwenhoven has lodged an appeal against his conviction and sentence.
The appeal is due to be heard in the Netherlands by August next year.
The bail application continues.
