Pretoria – Forensic Investigator Paul O'Sullivan said on Tuesday that his arrest and that of his assistant Sarah Jane Trent was influenced by acting police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane with the aim of disrupting the investigation into him.
O'Sullivan was speaking to reporters in the Pretoria Magistrate's court after Trent's brief appearance.
"Although we know Phahlane is behind this, he has brought thugs from North West province".
"We have now a situation where the criminal justice system is being taken over by criminals and when they are exposed they abuse the constitution," he said.
Trent was arrested late on Friday afternoon and released on R5 000 bail after an urgent application in the Pretoria High Court on Sunday. She has been charged with allegedly impersonating an Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) official in the investigation into acting police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane.
"I was abducted," Trent said. "They took me to a police station in Marlboro Drive and kept me there for an hour and a half, during that time they realised that they forgot to take my cellphone which they wanted to download. They then forced me, intimidated me to go back to the office, went back to the premises and went into my car and took the phone. And took me back to the petrol station, downloaded my phone illegally in the back of a VW polo, with a North West registration," she told reporters.
O'Sullivan said they plan to open a case against police for abduction, defeating the ends of justice and racketeering. "We say they are guilty of racketeering because they are unlawfully and intentionally doing what they are doing to us to disrupt investigation into the corrupt chief of police."
On Monday, O’Sullivan was arrested outside Afriforum’s offices in Pretoria. He was then taken to the Kameeldrift police station, where he was charged with offences including fraud, intimidation, and extortion. He was released from custody by order of the high court in Pretoria late on Monday night.
According to reports, Judge Francis Legodi ordered that the matter be struck off the roll. He reserved judgment on who would pay costs.
O'Sullivan said the charges against him and his assistant were trumped up. "If they think we are going to be scared of major general Mabula (Major General Ntebo Mabula) who is nothing more than a side kick of Phahlane they got another thing coming,"
O'Sullivan said flanked by his assistant.
"I am hopeful that in the very near future, Phahlane himself, will be arraigned in this court. I absolutely expect to be arrested on a regular basis by these thugs in the police. I am going to stand firm, the people are behind me, the public in this country are behind me."
Phahlane has filed an application in the high court for an interdict against Ipid executive director Robert McBride, O’Sullivan and Trent to ensure the investigation against him was lawfully conducted.
Phahlane is being investigated for allegedly defeating the ends of justice and corruption related to the building of his house and the ownership of cars.