Johannesburg - The defence in Radovan Krejcir’s murder trial has accused the State of a “trial by ambush” for failing to disclose key parts of the docket.
Krejcir, Siboniso Miya, Nkanyiso Mafunda, Siphiwe Memela and Borislavov Grigorov are charged with the 2013 murder of alleged Bedfordview drug dealer Sam Issa, who was gunned down in his Audi Q7.
While the trial was meant to begin earlier this month at the high court in Joburg, proceedings have stalled as the defence accused the State of being coy in providing a full list of its evidence against the five accused.
The disclosure application began last week, where SW van der Merwe, the defence lawyer representing all the accused except Krejcir, said the State’s seeming unwillingness to provide clarity had violated the rights of the accused to a fair trial.
The State’s indictment, containing the key facts of the prosecution’s case, was placed under the microscope during last week and Tuesday’s proceedings by both Van der Merwe and Krejcir’s lawyer, Cliff Alexander.
All five accused have been charged with conspiracy to commit Issa’s murder as well as the murder itself, but the indictment was unable to explain when or where the plans were constructed, claiming only a period of three months (July to September 2013) and a location of somewhere in the Joburg and Germiston regions.
On Tuesday, Alexander argued that the State had completely denied his client an opportunity to an alibi defence, because no dates had been provided for many of the charges he faces, Krejcir could not explain where he was when the crimes were committed.
He also said the State had failed to disclose the transcripts of Krejcir’s bail application, the cellphone data mined by the State, affidavits by key witnesses and forensic analysis by the SAPS.
The State has alleged that the reason Issa was killed was because Krejcir had allegedly borrowed R500 000 to pay bail in a fraud matter, but according to Alexander, it was actually Krejcir’s business, Moneypoint, that had lent money to Issa.
The case continues on Wednesday.
The Star