Five former security officials during the apartheid regime in South Africa were found guilty of plotting to poison an anti-apartheid activist and received suspended sentences on Friday.

A court in Pretoria passed down a 10-year suspended sentence for the former Minister of Law and Order Adriaan Vlok and Johan van der Merwe, who was chief of police eighteen years ago.

Three other security members received a five-year sentence. All men were convicted of plotting to poison Frank Chikane, a prominent activist during the apartheid era in South Africa.

The officials agreed to plead guilty of trying to murder Chikane by lacing his clothes with poison in order to receive a suspended sentence. At the time of the plot, Chikane  was secretary-general of the South African Council of Churches.

This trial sparked controversy and protests outside the High Court building, people demanding justice for the apartheid regime victims. Analysts say that after Friday’s decision, old wounds could be reopened and divisions between different communities would emerge once more.

Chikane was supposed to be eliminated like other anti-apartheid activists during the late 1980s, thousands of people being killed during over four decades of racial discrimination.

“I must say I am pleased that this thing is over and we can move forward. I hope that whatever happened today can be used as a way of resolving all the outstanding issues,” Chikane said after the trial.

Protesters gathered outside the courthouse said justice must be made for the apartheid victims and members of the African National Congress (ANC) should also be brought in front of magistrates for offences committed during the same period.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been investigating complaints from victims of violence during the apartheid since the early 1990s, when the regime was dismantled. People who admit their crimes could request amnesty from the prosecutors, Vlok being one of them.

The five indictees released a statement on Friday, saying divergences between communities continue to exist and the past’s shadow still darkens minds of people in South Africa.

“Any person who does not recognise this, is living in a fool's paradise and has lost touch with reality,” part of the statement read.