The lawyer representing four men who were detained in relation to the deaths of Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes and Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane has refuted their involvement in the crime and criticised the police for their unlawful arrest.
Reports emerged over the weekend indicating that the individuals had been apprehended in connection with the rapper and his friend’s murders.
The arrest of the five suspects, carried out in two operations, has since been kept secret, with the police declining to comment on the matter. On Thursday, it was disclosed that three of the suspects had been released.
Also read: Police release five men detained in connection with the murder of AKA
Advocate Annelene van den Heever spoke to The Citizen concerning the arrests.
According to Van den Heever, there were four men arrested, not five, and the suspects were held in police custody for more than 48 hours, which she said was unlawful.
On Wednesday, three suspects who were associated with a hijacking incident were released from custody due to an invalid Crime Administration System (CAS) number. Since then, these three have allegedly gone into hiding.
The fourth suspect, Siphamandla Ngcobo, was present in the Durban Magistrates’ Court on Thursday for his alleged involvement in a robbery with aggravated circumstances that occurred in January.
According to Van den Heever, the prosecutor Kuveshni Pillay requested a seven-day delay for an identity parade and verification of the suspect’s address (domicilium citandi).
‘We are objecting to the seven days, we say his face was all over social media and he was unlawfully in custody because his 48 hours expired on Tuesday.’
Initially, Pillay objected to a request made by several media outlets to photograph Ngcobo, stating that an identity parade had not yet taken place. However, Magistrate Ashwin Singh rejected her objection.
‘The accused’s name is on the charge sheet and I can’t stop the media from publishing the name as the charge sheet is a public document,’ he said.
Van den Heever expressed confusion over the police’s decision not to confirm the arrests.
‘Nobody knows, I can’t comment on it. They perpetuated the narrative that they are linked to AKA’s case. How simple is it just to say “no”. We are now going to wait to hear what the for the magistrate (Ashwin Singh) is going to do in this matter. If he says my client must stay in custody, we are going to arrange for a bail application as soon as possible.’
The KwaZulu-Natal police remain firm in their assertion that there is no progress to report on the investigation into the murder of AKA, seemingly dismissing reports that five individuals were taken in for interrogation.
Van den Heever acknowledged that Ngcobo was wounded but did not clarify whether he sustained the injuries while in police custody.
However, it has been reported that Ngcobo sustained ankle injuries as a result of being restrained with a rope, as well as wrist injuries from being bound together, and injuries to his lower back.
‘My client needs to go to the hospital, he’s got serious injuries, he needs to go see a doctor.’
According to Van den Heever, her client has been accused of stealing a Mercedes-Benz and has not had access to the relevant documents. She noted that there is a white Mercedes-Benz associated with AKA’s case.
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Picture: @Constitution_94 / Twitter
