INLSA

Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir. Picture: Jennifer Bruce

The arrest of international fugitive Radovan Krejcir in connection with an armed robbery in Pretoria, which left a close associate injured, has been blasted by his attorney as biased and one-sided.

This was the word from Krejcir’s lawyer, Piet du Plessis, hours after his client was arrested while having a late afternoon nap at his luxury Bedfordview home on Sunday.

Lashing out at police for their “cowboy-style tactics” for the arrest of Krejcir and two of his friends, Veselin Laganin and Jason Dominguez, Du Plessis said his client was arrested for an incident in which he was an “innocent bystander”.

Krejcir’s arrest and scheduled appearance today in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on charges of armed robbery, comes as he fights a R4.75 million life-insurance claim and attempts to have him extradited back to the Czech Republic where he has been convicted for fraud, kidnapping and corruption.

Du Plessis was referring to an armed robbery in October last year at an electronics store in Pretoria West. Hours after the robbery, one of Krejcir’s friends who had been injured, was arrested at his house.

The store, according to Du Plessis, is owned by Pakistani nationals and they had dealings with one of Krejcir’s friends. He claimed that Krejcir had accompanied his friends to the store for a “discussion” with the Pakistanis.

Du Plessis said that for months since the alleged robbery, in which reports at the time claimed the store was robbed of R200 000, “we have been co-operating with the police and the Director of Public Prosecutions”.