Krejcir sentencing postponed
AJOBURG High Court judge did not mince his words when the lawyers for Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir and his five co-accused requested that sentencing of the six men be postponed.
Presiding Judge Collin Lamont was not impressed by Krejcir’s defence team requesting another postponement after he had previously stressed that he wanted to pass sentence soonest on the men he had found guilty of, amongst others, murder and kidnapping, in August.
Sentencing procedures had already been delayed twice in recent months and were again postponed yesterday as it emerged that Krejcir’s previous legal representative had quit, which forced him to appoint a new one.
Krejcir’s new legal representative, Advocate Nardus Grovè, began by telling the court that his client had battled to obtain new legal counsel as money sent by his mother had been frozen and was only released recently.
Grovè also told the court that he was told by the prison manager where Krejcir was being held that he wasn’t allowed to consult with his client, and when he finally could, it was only for 10 minutes while officials were present.
Krejcir sat in the dock while Grovè informed the court that he had been notified by his client that he wanted to submit a medical certificate stating his current health status.
“There is a nurse who previously testified regarding accused one’s medical file. She wasn’t willing to come to court today because she said the case was too stressful for her,” Grovè said.
Judge Lamont told Grovè that when he found out about the funds being frozen, he should have brought it to the court’s attention immediately.
“This wasn’t treated as as urgent situation,” Lamont said.
Judge Lamont said the case had already been postponed too many times, and pointed out that Krejcir had known since August what he would need for sentencing arguments.
“This is a man who said he has millions, where are these millions because he knew they would be needed?” Judge Lamont asked. However, Grovè argued that there was no indication that the money that was needed was not going to be released.
Later, Anneleen van de Heever, who was Krejcir’s previous legal representative and also still represents coaccused Desai Luphondo, told the court that she was ready to proceed with sentencing despite not having spoken to Grovè since August.
In August, Judge Lamont found Krejcir, Luphondo, Warrant Officer Samuel Modise Maropeng, Jan Lefu Mofokeng and Siboniso Miya guilty of the attempted murder of Bheki Lukhele. A sixth accused, George Jeff Nthoroane, was found guilty of common assault. All six men were found guilty of kidnapping.
Johan Spangenberg, the defence advocate for the other accused, said he was only waiting for pre-sentencing reports for two of his clients.
Prosecutor Louis Mashiane opposed the postponement and accused Krejcir of deliberately wasting time.
Judge Lamont and Mashiane argued over the postponement, with Lamont saying that Krejcir had a constitutional right to be given time to prepare himself properly as there was the possibility of him going to jail for a long time.
Judge Lamont eventually postponed the matter to February 22. – ANA