The Pretoria High Court on Wednesday thwarted a bid by defence lawyers for two city advocates to stop the viewing of a police video showing their home-made pornographic photo album.
Lawyers for Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo asked for that part of the video, taken of the search and seizure at their home in December 2002, to be skipped.
They contended it would not be in the interests of public morality for the media and members of the public in the courtroom to see the footage.
They also argued for the protection of the identities of the women pictured in the album - which apart from Visser also include Prinsloo's former-wife, former girlfriends and "other friends".
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The State claims the album contains 12 pictures of minors engaged in sexual acts with Visser. Without conceding that they were minors, defence lawyers argued that these 12 pictures should be kept under wraps in case the court found that the girls were, indeed, under-aged.
Judge Essop Patel ruled that while the women concerned did enjoy the right to dignity and privacy, they had done nothing to assert their rights - despite knowing the photos were in the public domain.
He underlined the importance of the principle of "open justice", and of the right of freedom of the press.
"This is not an issue of public morality any longer, because pornography per se is no longer an offence," he added.
Patel ruled that video footage of the 12 pictures allegedly depicting children be excised for the moment. That portion, just under one-and-a-half minutes long, could be shown to the witness in camera.
The rest of the video would be shown in open court - but the women's identities may not be revealed.
"In a democracy such as ours, and since 1994 we have had an open society, the press has performed a vital role in exposing violations of the rights of children and women," the judge said. "I do not deem it necessary to exclude the press from an open court."
The issue of the photographs arose as the court was in the process of viewing the last of eight videos of the police search and seizure operation at the couple's home, and their arrest in December 2002.
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