Judge rejects application to recuse herself from ‘Geweld’ case over ‘threats’

DEFENCE advocate Janos Mihalik brought an application for Judge Chantel Fortuin to recuse herself in the case involving George “Geweld” Thomas and 16 others in the Western Cape High Court yesterday.

Acting for Thomas, Mihalik told the court that his client would not get a fair trial after a front-page report in an Afrikaans tabloid newspaper stated that both the judge and her daughter had been threatened.

In the biggest gang trial in the province to date, alleged 28s gang boss Thomas and 16 others yesterday appeared in court with beefed-up security on hand to search everyone entering the court.

The men faced a range of charges – 166 in total – including murder. Thomas has already been found guilty of 53 charges, including murder and racketeering.

The judge was visibly angered by the application for her recusal, saying that the media reports about threats to her life had nothing to do with the court. She said she was not scared of the gangsters, and that they were not scared of her.

Fortuin said sarcastically that if she were to recuse herself, it would be fantastic as she could finally get some rest.

She also responded to Mihalik: “Are you saying the court is scared? I can tell you now that’s not the case.”

Fortuin said media bodies were not sources in a court, and that she didn’t read the papers.

After a five-minute adjournment, she dismissed the application and said closing arguments could go ahead.

At one point, she strongly reprimanded Mihalik for interrupting her, saying: “Don’t you talk when I talk, you listen when I talk.”

Mihalik’s closing argument was short and to the point. He referred to another case in which the judge took into account that the accused had been awaiting trial for three years.

He asked that the court take this into account in the Thomas case. Thomas has been in prison for seven years, and Mihalik said that was a long time to have a life sentence hanging over one’s head.

Earlier yesterday, one of the accused, Gregory Meyer, testified in mitigation of sentence. He said he married his wife while behind bars just over a year ago.

He said his wife’s 8-year-old son regarded him as a father, and he also had two other daughters with different mothers. Meyer told the court that he had never met his father, and dropped out of school in Grade 10.

He said he had cut grass to earn money to buy tik. Selling tik doubled his income, but he didn’t make much money.

At the end of his testimony, Meyer appealed to the public gallery for forgiveness for the killing of Marvin Esterhuysen, but insisted he did not commit the murder.

One other accused, Reyaaz Dennis, testified in mitigation of sentence. Convicted on a range of charges including murder and the illegal possession of firearms, he told the court he, too, had dropped out of school before matric and had sold fruit with his father in Mitchells Plain and Cape Town.

Closing arguments in the marathon trial are expected to continue on Monday. – ANA