Alex and Marie-Jose (Smoothy) Moumbaris were arrested on the 19 July 1972 while trying to cross the border from Botswana. They were secretly detained for 4 months, before being charged, and their relatives were unable to establish their whereabouts. Helen Amiel, Alex Moumbaris mother, traced their whereabouts from their departure in Paris on the 8 June 1972, having received the last news from Gaborone in July 1972. The matter only appeared before the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on the 20 November 1972, when Alex Moumbaris and 5 Others were charged under the Terrorism Act. Marie-Jose, who was pregnant at the time, had been released and deported in September 1972.