Modack ‘starving as he cannot get halaal food’
ALLEGED extortion syndicate boss Nafiz Modack has been starving in prison as officials refuse to serve him halaal food, according to his lawyer.
Modack and Jacques Cronje, their hands and feet shackled, appeared in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court under heavy police guard yesterday on charges of intimidation and extortion.
They remain in custody and will be back in court on Thursday.
They allegedly extorted The Grand strip club in Rivonia‚ Johannesburg.
The heavily armed Tactical Response Team (TRT) escorted them in and out of court.
Modack’s lawyer, Johannes Eksteen, told the court that Modack‚ a Muslim‚ had been deprived of food since his incarceration.
He said the officials refused to allow his family to bring him halaal food and told him to eat what was served in the prison.
“Prison officials [said] they [had] instructions to not allow him food from family,” Eksteen said. “That is totally inhumane.”
Magistrate Gideon Schnetler told him to take the matter up with prison officials.
Cronje is allegedly a pivotal figure in a syndicate that intimidates club owners into accepting protection from its security group.
He, Modack and others already face nine charges in Cape Town for allegedly extorting the Grand Cafe in Green Point and intimidating the complainants.
An affidavit by the investigating officer in the case was handed to court by the state as evidence to support its opposition to bail.
The Grand manager had opened a case after being threatened.
“Modack and Cronje sent threatening SMSes that they [would] burn down the establishment and there [would] be fireworks at the Grand‚” the affidavit said.
Modack claimed in his bail application that his alleged extortion of the Grand Cafe in Cape Town was a “business transaction”.
His senior advocate, Dirk Uys, said: “If a large person walks up to a timid person and says ‘Give me your wallet’, and the person gives him his wallet, that’s not robbery.”
Judgment in Modack’s bail application will be handed down on February 28. –