Cops get bail for naked man’s assault

Screen crabs from youtube shows a police officer assualting a naked man in Riebeeck street.

Screen crabs from youtube shows a police officer assualting a naked man in Riebeeck street.

Published Mar 10, 2014

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Cape Town - Two policemen accused of assaulting a naked man were granted bail by the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Monday.

David Alexander Gunn, 43, and Gerrit Donovan Januarie, 45, made their first appearance on a charge of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm following their arrest on Friday night.

The State requested that bail be set at R2 000 each.

“In respect of both accused the State is not opposed to bail your worship,” control prosecutor Adiel Jansen told the court.

He said neither had other pending matters, previous convictions, or outstanding warrants of arrest.

Lawyers for both policemen asked that bail be reduced because they had been suspended pending investigation and did not have high salaries.

They were granted bail of R1 500 each and were told to return to court on May 9 following further investigation.

A number of bail conditions requested by Jansen were set.

Gunn and Januarie were ordered not to make contact with any witnesses and not to visit or speak to employees of the Cape Town central police station.

Both would have to report to their closest police station every Monday and Friday evening.

They would not be allowed to visit the Sky nightclub in Riebeeck street, near where the alleged assault took place on Thursday.

A person in a nearby building used her cellphone to record a Nigerian being assaulted in the street. The video clip soon went viral on social media.

It shows two police officers handcuffing the man, watched by two men wearing neon-yellow city safety unit vests.

One of the officers is seen removing his pants, leaving him exposed in the road. The footage shows the man being punched and kicked in the groin, while his arms are held at his sides.

The shocked voices of others in the building can be heard on the video.

A woman, opens a window and shouts: “Police brutality. That's not how you treat a person. Why are you kicking him? Why are you kicking him?”

One of the officers is seen wagging his hand at her, before walking towards the building.

The court ordered that the victim's name not to be published. The order applied to the names and identities of all witnesses.

Two men who went to the Cape Town police station on Saturday to make statements related to the assault appeared directly after the policemen.

They were arrested on an assault charge after making their statements, but no further details were made available.

Their names were being withheld as per the court order.

Jansen asked for a week's postponement to get further bail information.

Marthino van Schalkwyk, for the men, said the matter should be rolled over to Tuesday.

“There seems to be different justice for different people.... I always thought the justice system should be a fair system,” he said.

Jansen said the cases were totally different because one of the men had an outstanding warrant of arrest.

“We are not treating the accused in a different light, but what is clear as the light of day is he has a warrant of arrest. It's like chalk and cheese,” Jansen said.

The men would remain in custody until Wednesday.

Sapa

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