Eugene de Kock

Who is Eugene de Kock?

Eugene Alexander de Kock is a former South African police colonel and assassin, active under the apartheid government. Considered one of the darkest figures of the apartheid period and nicknamed "Prime Evil" by the press, de Kock was the commanding officer of C1, a counter-insurgency unit of the South African Police that kidnapped, tortured, and murdered hundreds of anti-apartheid activists from the 1980s to the early-90s. C1's victims included members of the African National Congress.

Following South Africa's transition to democracy in 1994, de Kock disclosed the full scope of C1's crimes while testifying before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In 1996, he was tried and convicted on eighty-nine charges and sentenced to 212 years in prison. Since beginning his sentence, de Kock has accused several members of the apartheid government, including former state president F. W. de Klerk, of permitting C1's activities.