Arrests ‘shock’ Bushiri
PROBE INCOMPLETE: LEGAL TEAM RELEASED AFTER COURT HEARING
‘Prophet’ says detentions ‘an escalation’ due to his accusations against Hawks.
Enlightened Christian Gathering Church (ECG) leader Shepherd Bushiri has been left in “deep shock and sadness” following the “unlawful” detention of his attorneys and legal advisor.
In a statement issued by his spokesman, Ephraim Nyondo, he said his attorney, Terrance Baloyi, and legal advisor Alvin Khosa had been detained for eight hours by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) on Monday after a warrant of arrest was issued.
According to Bushiri, a private investigator he had hired to probe extortion and blackmail acts against him was also detained.
“It’s shocking to note that my instructing lawyers and the private investigator were being unlawfully kept in custody like convicted criminals.
“The senior state advocate, who issued the alleged warrant of arrest, was nowhere to be seen and court officials were left with no option but to release my lawyers from custody under the banner of claiming that the police investigation is incomplete, yet we know they have been investigating since 2017; worse, they proceeded to arrest,” Bushiri said.
The self-proclaimed prophet said he was not surprised by the incident “because it’s just an escalation and intensification of a failed scheme by certain Hawks officers hell-burnt [sic] to cover up the dirt I reported against them ... a series of extortion pushes from certain Hawks personnel...”
In 2018, Bushiri laid extortion and corruption charges after the officers allegedly tried to extort about R10 million from him.
According to Independent Police Investigative Directorate, the officers, who were investigating several allegations of rape against Bushiri, allegedly tried to extort money from him to make the charges disappear.
Bushiri and his wife, Mary, skipped the country in November last year, after they were granted bail of R200 000 each by the Pretoria Central Magistrate’s Court, stating safety and security concerns and claiming they would not get a fair trial in South Africa.