Rightists Plead Not Guilty in Hani Death : South Africa: Amid protests outside court, trial of three accused in slaying of black activist opens.

Three right-wing white militants pleaded not guilty Monday to the assassination of popular black activist and Communist Party leader Chris Hani as one of this nation’s most closely watched trials in years opened with a shouting match in the courtroom and protests outside.

One after another, Clive Derby-Lewis, 57, a prominent member of the pro-apartheid Conservative Party, his Australian-born wife, Gaye, 54, and the alleged triggerman, Polish immigrant Janusz Waluz, 38, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, conspiracy and illegal possession of arms and ammunition.

Prosecutors in what one Sunday newspaper dubbed the “Trial of the Century” also allege that the group prepared a hit list targeting nine black and white leaders, including African National Congress President Nelson Mandela, Communist Party national chairman Joe Slovo and South African Foreign Minister Roelof F. (Pik) Botha.

The brutal shooting death last April 10 of Hani, a former guerrilla leader who was a hero to many in the black townships, sparked riots that left hundreds dead in cities and towns across the country. The crisis was one of the worst since President Frederik W. de Klerk began dismantling apartheid three years ago.

In recent weeks, police have reported several alleged terrorist plots by other white extremists who have vowed to fight the country’s move toward non-racial elections next April and eventual black majority rule.

The trial opened after a weekend in which at least 40 people were shot, stabbed or hacked to death, mostly in impoverished black townships east of Johannesburg. Violence has surged steadily in recent months, with more than 1,600 people killed in political and factional violence since early July.

Heavily armed police used snarling dogs and barricades to guard the Rand Supreme Court as several dozen black protesters sang, chanted and danced peacefully in the street. One placard saying “Just Hang Them” was hung on an effigy with a noose around its neck.

A dispute erupted in the packed courtroom, however, when a black man sat beside a white woman shortly before the trial began. As people began shouting and trading taunts, a court officer appealed for calm, saying: “Please don’t be racist here. Please don’t fight.”

Opening testimony featured two witnesses who placed Waluz at the scene of the shooting. Margaretha Harmse said she was driving past Hani’s house when she saw a white man standing in the driveway with his arms extended in a “shooting position.”

She said she phoned police with the license number after the killer drove away in a red Ford Laser. Police later stopped Waluz’s car and found two guns, including a 9-millimeter pistol they say was used in the killing.

The other witness, Hani’s neighbor Michael Buchanan, said he rushed to his front door with his own gun when he heard the shooting and saw a thin, light-haired man drive past in a red hatchback. Buchanan said he later identified Waluz in a police lineup.

“The person I observed driving past stood out like a sore thumb,” he recalled.