“What these people did was criminal. They were a brotherhood within the security police; they covered up for each other.”
This was the evidence of top criminal investigator Frank Dutton, who was the first head of the police’s former elite Scorpions unit, which was later replaced by the Hawks.
Dutton was asked by the family of Ahmed Timol to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death in 1971.
He took the stand in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria yesterday to testify in the second inquest into the death.
Dutton concluded that there was a cover-up by the police regarding the circumstances surrounding Timol’s death.
“The version of the police of what happened to Timol must be viewed with considerable suspicion and caution. In my view, the police version is most likely a fabrication.”
He questioned why the police - if they were adamant Timol had committed suicide by jumping out of the window of the notorious “truth room” 1026 of John Vorster Square - did not call in an independent investigator to investigate the case.
The police instead selected the head of the detective branch in Pretoria at the time to lead the investigation.
“Clearly, he was not impartial, nor did he have an open mind as to the cause of death.”
Dutton also questioned why none of the black members working at the time on John Vorster Square notorious 10th floor, were ever asked to give statements.
According to Dutton, at least two investigations should have been triggered by Timol’s death - an inquest investigation to establish the cause of his death and whether any one was responsible for his death; and an administrative inquiry to determine whether a police member had contravened the regulations by allowing Timol to exit the building while in police detention.
The inquiry should have resulted in a formal decision by police management as to whether disciplinary steps should be instituted against members of the force.
Dutton said the entire building should have been swept for evidence and every single person working there questioned on what they knew, saw or heard.
Hardly any fingerprints were taken and it was not established whether there were any blood in the interrogation room.
The fact that Timol’s body was removed within minutes of the fall also indicated a cover-up, Dutton said.
Timol’s family called for a second inquest 46 years later, as they believed he was tortured and killed by security police members.
An expert on trajectory is due to take the stand today to shed more light on whether Timol jumped or whether he was pushed.