Twins’ terror trial postponed to April
THE state has been given a chance to further build its case against Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie‚ the twin brothers accused of planning acts of terrorism on South African soil.
Magistrate Peter du Plessis yesterday granted a postponement in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court to April 25‚ which was requested by prosecutor Chris Macadam to gather evidence from other countries.
The brothers from Newclare were arrested on July 9 after their homes were raided by police.
They face three counts relating to terrorism for their alleged attempts to travel to Syria to join Islamic State and alleged plans to attack US and Jewish interests in South Africa.
The state argued that the lengthy postponement was necessary to consult the governments of the US‚ Britain‚ France‚ Kenya‚ Mozambique‚ Syria and Turkey to gather further evidence in the case.
Du Plessis said the request for a postponement was not unreasonable as it was far more complicated to gather information from other countries than it was to take statements locally.
“Not only does the state have an obligation to society to ensure prosecution is properly done‚ the state also has an obligation to other nations‚” he said.
According to the state‚ the twins had posted incriminating evidence on their social media accounts. It is seeking access to this information from service providers like Google through US authorities.
US authorities have made themselves available to meet the National Prosecuting Authority and the police in the last week of March to go through information provided to them by these service providers.
Macadam said previously that arrests in Kenya and Britain‚ which recently came to state’s attention‚ may also be linked to the Thulsie case.
Advocate Annelene van den Heever‚ for the defence‚ opposed the application for a postponement‚ saying the state’s request violated the twins’ constitutional rights and that the Thulsies’ arrests had been carried out prematurely.
She argued that the case should be struck off the roll and be reinstated when the state had completed its investigation.
Macadam said the April postponement would be the state’s final delay ahead of trial and that the state may be forced to withdraw the charges against the Thulsies if it was still not prepared by then.