Omar’s group in king’s corner

AMONG the assortment of interest groups around AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo in his efforts to stay out of prison is the Society for the Protection of our Constitution.

The group’s lawyer was confident yesterday he would obtain an extension of the king’s bail until the new year.

The attorney, Zehir Omar, who founded the organisation, is also representing Dalindyebo, the latest lawyer retained by the king in his efforts to stave off imprisonment.

Omar said yesterday he had written to the Minister of Justice raising his concern that one of the assessors appointed to Dalindyebo’s criminal trial in Mthatha in 2009 had died but had not been replaced by Judge Sytze Alkema.

It would be an injustice for Dalindyebo to be incarcerated on that basis and he had appointed counsel to approach the Mthatha High Court for an extension of the king’s bail pending the minister’s decision, Omar said.

The ministry confirmed it had received the petition from Omar‚ for the trial to be reopened in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act.

The law provides for a petition to be submitted to the minister when a person has exhausted all legal avenues and has been unsuccessful in the country’s courts. It is‚ however‚ only applicable if there is new evidence that has since surfaced that might affect a conviction.

Omar came to prominence when he represented Pakistani national Khalid Rashid, who was a victim of US rendition from South Africa.

He was also admitted as a friend of the court on the side of President Jacob Zuma when Judge Chris Nicholson threw out the estranged politician’s corruption trial in the Maritzburg High Court in 2008. — rayh@dispatch.co.za