Finance Minister Trevor Manuel took a swipe at the media after he won his Cape High Court bid to gag

the man who publicly called for his prosecution in relation to the controversial arms deal.

Judge André le Grange today granted an urgent interdict against arms deal activist Terry Crawford-Browne to stop making defamatory remarks about Manuel.

Manuel said afterwards that he felt "a bit like a battered wife", but had no intention of claiming damages against Crawford-Browne.

The judge said that on the available evidence, Crawford-Browne's statements were defamatory and part of an ongoing campaign to deliberately undermine Manuel.

A strong prima facie right to the court's protection had been established, Judge Le Grange said, before ordering that Crawford-Browne stop publishing allegations of corruption against Manuel and that he remove all allegations from his website.

He made no orders with regards to Crawford-Browne's book on the arms deal.

Manuel said later: "The fact that I had to approach a court is sad; it brings a negative energy which society does not need."

Furthermore, when Crawford-Browne had persisted in repeating allegations despite an earlier judgment against him, the media had thought it "cool to report" the allegations.

He said society's freedoms had to be balanced by responsibility, adding there was "something wrong in the equation if common decency did not stop (such publication)".

He said he was not seeking to impede normal discourse, but wanted to prevent libellous statements from being made about him "day after day".

"In a civilised society people talk about issues and resolve them as part of the normal discourse", however their dignity and rights had to be protected, said Manuel.

"I feel a bit like a battered wife. Money won't make it better. I just want restraint of conduct. That is more important," he said, when asked whether he would claim damages from Crawford-Browne.

The judge said Manuel had to apply for a permanent interdict within the next 20 days.

Crawford-Browne told the Cape Argus: "This is an opportunity to reopen the whole arms deal issue."

He said that at the hearings for the permanent interdict, "we will unload the evidence, and the evidence will speak for itself".

"The whole arms deal needs to be reopened. It has been reopened internationally, but our government is in denial."

Judge le Grange ruled that it was defamatory "to say a person, in particular a Minister of Finance … is corrupt and should be prosecuted with corruption and similar offences, without providing a shred of evidence…

"The limited restraint on free speech resulting from the order I make is not directed to stop the respondent from participating in a debate of immense public importance.

The restraint is directed at the manner in which the respondent has chosen to participate in the debate and the methods he chose to employ," he ruled.

With acknowledgements to Ella Smook and Cape Argus.