ISIS accused denied bail
THE bail application for the two accused of the murder of botanists Rod and Rachael Saunders was last week denied at the Verulam Magistrate’s Court.
Magistrate Irfan Khallil told the court the prima facie evidence against the ISIS-linked pair Sayfudeen Aslam Del Vecchio (38) and Bibi Fatima Patel (27) was enough to deny them bail.
‘The suspects have not proven exceptional circumstances to warrant their release on bail, which is required for a schedule six offence.
‘Their release would undermine public safety,’ said Khallil.
Patel and Del Vecchio, together with 36-yearold Malawian Ahmad Jackson Mussa are facing charges of kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, theft, contravention of the country’s terrorism act and two counts of murder.
Del Vecchio is also facing a count of malicious damage to property.
Mussa, who previously abandoned a bail application, appeared in court with the accused couple.
The pair‚ along with Mussa‚ are alleged to have drained the Saunders’ bank accounts and then murdered them before dumping the bodies from a bridge into the Tugela River.
The court heard that Del Vecchio and Patel are potential flight risks, even though they had agreed under oath that they would comply with the bail conditions if granted bail.
Magistrate Khallil said this was based on the fact that Del Vecchio had travelled between South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique more than 40 times between 2015 and 2017.
This point was earlier addressed by Advocate Jay Naidoo, acting on behalf of Del Vecchio and Patel, who made submissions as to why his clients should be awarded bail.
‘In terms of them being a flight risk, they cannot travel, it is dismissible that there are ways and means that someone can cross the border without the use of their passports.
‘Their passports have been taken away from them.
‘There is very little chance of either of the applicants absconding and not coming back,’ Naidoo argued.
However, Magistrate Khallil instantly refuted these points raised by Naidoo.
‘Yes I agree, but at the same time, no applicant would inform the court that they would want to leave the country illegally, even if they have, under State oath, agreed not to.
‘The large uncontrolled borders in which people are able to cross, should I ignore that fact?
‘I cannot just ignore that our borders are porous in relation to the large immigration problem we have in our country,’ Khallil told Naidoo.
Khallil’s decision to deny Del Vecchio and Patel bail was reinforced by a strong case led by State Advocate Adele Barnard, who emphasised the point that the state had gathered strong evidence against both Del Vecchio and Patel.
‘The State submits that the independent evidence indicates that Patel was present and assisted Del Vecchio in the commissioning of these crimes; her involvement happened long before the murder actually happened.
‘She was involved in the premeditation which led up to the commission of the murder.
‘There is also no guarantee that the accused will remain in the country if they are granted bail, even though their passports have been confiscated,’ Barnard told the court.