The five suspects accused of robbing missing German tourist Nick Frischke are due to appear in the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, when the investigating officer will be called to the stand.
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Igshaan Fisher, Jason Abrahams, Vanroy Petersen, Carlo Guenantin and Melvin Guenantin appeared via video link from Pollsmoor Prison yesterday when the matter was postponed to later this week.
During proceedings on Tuesday, the court heard that investigations had not yet been concluded and that there were still 43 outstanding queries that needed to be answered.
The suspects are currently charged with aggravated robbery and possession.
With Frischke’s body still missing, the suspects are currently charged with aggravated robbery and possession of a firearm.
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However, under the circumstances, the State proposed that murder be added to the charge sheet, but the matter still needs to be investigated to determine whether there are grounds for a murder charge to be included.
‘The investigating officer requested that the matter be postponed due to the limited amount of time given as to what these queries are [therefore] the State has not had had an opportunity to complete and analyse the requested queries by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP),’ prosecutor Zameer Jaffer told the court.
Defence lawyer Kyle Petersen told Magistrate Goolam Bawa that he was not opposed to the State’s request for the investigating officer to testify because he needed time to consult with his clients.
The matter was then postponed to Thursday to give the accused time to consult their lawyer.
When approached by News24 for information on the progress in finding Frishke’s body, Western Cape police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said the search was ongoing.
However, this was disputed by the Hout Bay community policing forum chairperson, Anthony Chelamey, who told the publication that ‘no active searching’ was taking place.
Meanwhile, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said there was insufficient time to complete the investigation, which had resulted in ‘yet another postponement’.
‘There hasn’t been enough time to finalise all those queries so that the State can say we are transferring the case to the regional court to continue,’ said Ntabazalila.
Testimonies and arguments from the accused cannot be done via video link, so they need to be in court to hear the evidence against them, according to the NPA.
‘We will be calling on the investigating officer to take the stand on Thursday so that he can explain to the court why more time is needed for the investigation to be finalised,’ said Ntabazalila.
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Also read:
Case against suspects connected to missing German tourist postponed
Picture: Tom Frischke / Facebook