Questions over sting operation
AUTHORITY: COURT DEBATES WHO GAVE THE ORDER
At issue is whether Panayiotou’s bouncer willingly took part in surveillance.
Adeputy director of public prosecution based in Grahamstown, Selvan Gounden, told the Port Elizabeth High Court yesterday that if Christopher Panayiotou’s bouncer willingly participated in the undercover police sting operation, authority for the trap would not have been needed.
State advocate Marius Stander cross-examined Gounden after the defence called him as their first witness in the ongoing murder trial involving Panayiotou, Sinethemba Nenembe and Zolani Sibeko, who are accused of conspiracy to murder Panayiotou’s schoolteacher wife Jayde in 2015.
Throughout his testimony, Gounden vehemently denied giving any such verbal permission or guidance to the police. He told the court he did not have the authority to give permission for the sting, which took place on April 29, 2015. However, during cross-examination, more information came to light on how police seemingly went about the operation.
Stander’s questioning centred on how police obtained permission to set up the secret video recording between self-confessed middleman Luthando Siyoni and Panayiotou. In the video, Panayiotou chats to Siyoni about what seems to be the murder of Jayde.
Panayiotou seemingly implicated himself in the crime. He had met up with the self-confessed middleman at the Algoa Park Steers on April 29, 2015, just days after Jayde was shot dead. The businessperson can be heard saying police are watching his every move. He tells Siyoni to destroy his SIM card and cellphone, and tells him not to call him because police are tracing his phone.
The damning video was aired in court after Judge Dayalin Chetty ruled it admissible.
According to the state, Siyoni willingly cooperated with the police in setting up the video. The defence, however, claim that Siyoni was beaten and forced into implicating his boss. It was established in court that Gounden was called by deputy director of public prosecutions Indra Goberdan. According to cellphone records, the call took place a day before the sting operation took place.
He said she had asked his opinion on the admissibility of the secret video recording at court. “I informed her that authorisation [for the sting] was not necessary.”
Gounden said he contacted advocate Zelda Swanepoel to ask her if authorisation was necessary and she said it was not.
He asked his colleague of 16 years, fellow deputy director of public prosecution in Grahamstown advocate Malherbe Marais, and he gave guidelines as to how the operation should take place.
The trial continues. – ANA