State Papers: Government banned notorious South African police chief from entering Ireland in 1994

Eugene de Kock, left, at a court appearance in 1998. He was sentenced to 212 years in prison for his role in South Africa’s 'apartheid killing machine'.

The Government banned a notorious South African police chief and paramilitary executioner from entering the country in 1994 amid fears he would move to Ireland following the collapse of the apartheid regime.

Nicknamed “Prime Evil”, Colonel Eugene Alexander de Kock had led brutal paramilitary operations against opponents of the apartheid regime, including members of the African National Congress (ANC).