Timol accused loses bid for stay of prosecution
APARTHEID-era police officer João Roderigues, who is facing a charge of murder related to the death of anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol nearly 50 years ago, has lost his legal bid for a stay of prosecution. The Supreme Court of Appeal yesterday dismissed an appeal in which Roderigues said that he should not have to face his Johannesburg high court trial.
The issue before the Supreme Court was whether a lengthy delay in commencing criminal prosecution of charges, allegedly caused by political interference, prejudiced him and justified a permanent stay of prosecution.
He is facing a charge of murder and defeating and/or obstructing the administration of justice.
The murder charge relates to the death of Timol at the then John Vorster Square police station in October 1971.
Roderigues has not yet pleaded in the criminal trial. He earlier applied to the high court for a permanent stay of prosecution on the charge of murder.
He argued that it was unfair to charge him 47 years after Timol’s death. He further argued that the delay in prosecuting him was a deliberate decision of the National Prosecuting Authority because of interference by the executive and the Presidency.
Three judges of the high court dismissed the application, and refused leave to appeal. Roderigues then brought an application for leave to appeal in the Supreme Court.
His application was brought on the basis that the high court erred in concluding that the delay in bringing the prosecution would not taint the fairness of the trial and violate his right to a fair trial in terms of the Constitution. According to Roderigues, he was being prosecuted for an improper motive, which included political interference.
The judges said there was no evidence showing how the political interference impacted on factors relating to the substantial fairness of the trial. They found there was no evidence that the 47-year pre-trial delay would taint the overall fairness of the trial.
Another ground on which Roderigues felt he should not be prosecuted was his advanced age of 82. But the SCA said that old age and infirmity would be relevant at the sentencing stage and were not grounds upon which he could claim that he was being prejudiced if he was not granted a permanent stay of prosecution. They said the trial court would be best suited to deal with any issue of potential prejudice.
Timol was said to have tumbled out of a 10th floor window of the then notorious police station, now known as Johannesburg Central police station, nearly five decades ago. High court Judge Billy Mothle ruled in October 2017 that Timol was murdered and that several apartheid police officers had a case to answer to.
Roderigues was one of the officers in the room at the time Timol fell.