Defence aims to crack driver in Krejcir trial

State witness quizzed over ‘inconsistencies’

THE STATE’S star witness in Radovan Krejcir’s trial for murder has been accused of tailoring his evidence because of a series of inconsistencies between his written statement and testimony in court.

Krejcir, Mfaniseni Memela, Nkanyiso Mafunda and Siboniso Miya have been accused of the 2013 murder of alleged Bedfordview druglord Sam Issa.

Krejcir’s former driver, Lyubomir Borislavov Grigorov, has spent several days over the past six months testifying against the four men at the High Court in Joburg. He was initially one of the co-accused in the case but became a State witness earlier this year.

In his time on the stand, Grigorov has claimed that Krejcir and Issa were in the middle of a dispute over R500 000 that the former owed the latter.

Because of the tension between them, and an alleged attempt on Krejcir’s life, he summoned the other three accused to kill Issa. Issa was later found gunned down in his Audi Q7 in Bedfordview.

Grigorov’s testimony has come under the microscope this week, with Miya’s lawyer, Enrico Guarneri, continuing his cross-examination. Guarneri spent hours comparing Grigorov’s initial statement to police with his significantly more detailed testimony.

The statement, Guarneri argued, did not mention sev- eral key aspects of the State’s case, namely how Miya, Memela and Mafunda had met Krejcir and were asked to perform the killing.

It also did not give details about the number of vehicles Krejcir allegedly gave to Miya to perform his job as his errand runner.

The statement also failed to mention how the Ford Ranger believed to have been used to hunt down Issa on the night of the murder had been fitted with blue lights and a siren by Miya.

Another key aspect missing from the statement, according to Guarneri, was how all the accused were present when Krejcir allegedly told his three alleged accomplices to remember Issa’s face before being asked to kill him.

Grigorov was unable to explain the inconsistencies, telling the court he had told the investigating officers all of these details when they took his statement.

Guarneri also questioned how Grigorov had managed to get a copy of the court record of his own testimony. The document was discovered in his carry-bag at the court.

The record had numerous sections underlined by Grigorov – on his own admission – with many of the underlined segments corresponding to the missing pieces of his initial statement.

Yesterday, the case was postponed to Wednesday for further cross-examination.

PICTURE: MOTLABANA MONNAKGOTLA Radovan Krejcir allegedly wanted Sam Issa dead.