Terror ID wrong – claim
LOCAL CELL: ACCUSED OF MALL BOMBS, COUPLE’S DEATH, MOSQUE ATTACK
Bail applications under way in Verulam Magistrate’s Court in KwaZulu-Natal.
The men accused of being part of an Islamic State (IS) terror cell that planted incendiary devices at malls in Durban and attacked a mosque’s worshippers have all claimed the identity parade used to arrest them was flawed.
The bail application of the 11 accused was set to continue yesterday and today in the Verulam Family Court before magistrate Irfan Khalil. The cell is accused of planting the explosive devices earlier this year and attacking the Imam Hussain Shia mosque near Verulam in May. The mosque attack led to the death of Abbas Essop, whose throat was slit while trying to help the wounded. Two others were injured. Days later an incendiary device was found in the mosque.
The accused are facing murder, attempted murder, extortion and arson charges under South African anti-terror legislation known as the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorism and Related Activities Act. In their affidavits, the men say their arrests were a case of mistaken identity by association or being at the wrong place at the wrong time. They also all dispute cellphone evidence that allegedly places them at various scenes when crimes were committed.
They claim the identity parade was poorly constructed and that the witness also picked out participants deliberately placed in the line-up by officials.
Accused Ahmed Haffejee said his inclusion on a WhatsApp group called Jundullah – meaning Soldiers of God – was done “without being asked” and that he “personally never commented” on the group. Haffejee added that he was not linked to Ahmad Jackson Mussa, “rather, our respective numbers are shown to be in the same WhatsApp group”.
Mussa is accused of partaking in the February murders of botanists Rachel and Rodney Saunders in the Ngoye Forest 130km north of Durban. Mussa, Sayfudeen del Vechhio, 38, and his customary Islamic wife, Fatima Patel, 27, are accused of kidnapping, extorting, murdering and dumping their bodies into the Tugela River. The trio will appear again in December.
Haffejee added that IS-linked literature seen on his electronic devices did not mean he support- ed terrorists. “At times, comments were made purely to provoke debate, especially on topics relating to the Middle East crisis.”
He admitted to being known as a “keyboard warrior” and he has an outstanding “defamation” claim against him by “a doctor”.
Accused number four, Tanzanian national Thabit Said Mwenda, an “Islamic priest”, and his brother-in-law, Seiph Mohamed, a veterinarian who only arrived in SA in September, admitted to being here illegally. The other accused – Mohamad Akbar, Amani Mayani, Abubaker Ali, Abasi Juma, Mohammed Adil Sobruin, Burundian Iddy Omari and Ndikumana Shabani – are challenging the charges. Alleged kingpin Farad Hoomer, 41, made a bail application to the court last week. His advocate Jimmy Howse said he could prove the evidence against Hoomer was false. – ANA