Pastor Omotoso’s lawyer harassed
Enraged protesters bay for Daubermann’s blood, calling him ‘rubbish [for] defending a rapist’.
Nigerian pastor Timothy Omotoso’s lawyer Peter Daubermann has spoken out after he was followed and harassed by angry protesters outside the Port Elizabeth High Court this week.
“It’s very unfortunate, unnecessary and uncalled for. Other than that, I don’t really want to comment,” Daubermann told African News Agency yesterday.
On Wednesday, enraged protesters bayed for Daubermann’s blood as police escorted him to his car which was parked at the back of the court building.
The crowd, including some members of the #TotalShutDown movement, threw water and hurled insults at him, calling him a “rubbish [for] defending a rapist”.
They demanded that he drop the case and threatened him, saying that they knew where he lived.
The protesters were at the court to support state witness Cheryl Zondi, 22, who was under cross-examination for a third successive day.
Many people have accused Daubermann of stepping over the line in his questioning of Zondi, who alleged Omotoso sexually assaulted her when she was 14-years-old.
Chaos erupted outside the court building after the trial adjourned for the day. Omotoso’s supporters and Zondi’s supporters were separated by police after they attacked each other.
Daubermann has been widely criticised by the public for his cross-examination of Zondi.
During the trial, Judge Mandela Makaula stopped him from asking what asking he called “unfair” questions.
The minister of women in the presidency and the portfolio committee overseeing her department have objected to what they called the “brutal and inhumane” questioning, describing it as “secondary victimisation”.
The Commission of Gender Equality (CGE) said it would approach the judiciary and the General Council of the Bar to discuss the “unfair” treatment of rape survivors in court.
This followed a public outcry about Daubermann’s questions, including asking Zondi how many centimetres of the pastor’s penis was inserted into her vagina.
The Nigerian pastor faces 63 main charges and 34 alternative counts, including for human trafficking, rape, sexual assault, racketeering and conspiracy in aiding another person to commit sexual assault.
His two alleged henchwomen, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho, are accused of recruiting girls from all over the country for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
The 58-year-old televangelist allegedly trafficked more than 30 girls and women from various branches of his church to a house in Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal, where he allegedly sexually exploited them. – ANA