Krejcir can be extradited – magistrate

CZECH fugitive Radovan Krejcir can now officially be booted out of South Africa, after the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court ruled yesterday that he is liable to be surrendered to the Czech Republic.

However, whether Krejcir will remain in South Africa to face his numerous criminal trials will be in the hands of Justice Minister Michael Masutha, who makes the final call.

Krejcir is at the centre of a series of criminal cases in South Africa, linked to the local underworld through drugs, intimidation and murder.

From the alleged murder of suspected Bedfordview drug kingpin Sam Issa, to the conspiracy to kill forensic consultant Paul O’Sullivan and a high-ranking police officer, Colonel Nkosana Ximba, Krejcir’s trials remain a massive burden on the court roll across Gauteng.

Despite the criminal cases against him, thus far he has been convicted only of drug dealing and attempted murder, for which he was sentenced to an effective 34 years behind bars.

The Czech Republic has been trying since 2007 to ensure Krejcir is extradited to face criminal charges in his own country. These include cases of criminal conspiracy to commit fraud and murder, evasion of taxes, credit fraud and committing an offence of deprivation of personal freedom and blackmail.

In all of these Czech Republic cases, Krejcir was found guilty in his absence though, if he is extradited, he will be allowed to be re-tried under Czech law.

After years of Krejcir’s attempts to slow the extradition proceedings through the Supreme Court of Appeal, the case was placed back on the roll at Kempton Park in 2013.

However, the proceedings were scuppered again after Krejcir revealed he had made a political asylum application with the local refugee board and it was only after this failed that the case was reinstated in 2016.

Yesterday, magistrate Willem Schutte found that not only were at least five of the Czech criminal cases against Krejcir viable for prosecution, there was also a reasonable chance of success on conviction. And because of this, they were extraditable offences.