Durban - Muslim scholar Yousuf Ahmed Deedat is suing the State for R15 million after allegedly being branded an Isis terrorist in court.
The Verulam man, the son of the late fiery founder and president of Islamic Propagation Centre International, Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, has sent a letter of demand to the national director of public prosecutions, Shaun Abrahams, denying claims that he is a threat to national security.
“I was born in South Africa and had no ties with Isis or for that matter any terrorist organisation,” he said in the letter, a copy of which has been seen by POST.
“Further, the submission by the prosecutor that I was involved in organised crime was frivolous.”
Deedat, represented by attorneys Dawood Patel & Company, said the statements were made by a prosecutor in April when he appeared in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court.
He said police had arrested him for allegedly issuing Isis-related pamphlets at a Durban North school.
“During my court appearance the prosecutor said I was going to be charged for issuing the pamphlets and for advertising Isis. The State had opposed bail because, in its view, I was a threat to the national security of the Republic of South Africa.”
Deedat alleged that the case against him fell flat after magistate CM Mdunge informed the prosecutor that it was on “shaky ground”.
He claims he suffered loss of reputation, harm to his dignity and self-respect, and that he and his family were put in danger: “The State’s contention that I handed out Isis pamphlets is malicious. It is devoid of any truth,” he said in the letter of demand.
“The allegation that I am a terrorist or have any links to Isis is rejected as false beyond all reasonable doubt.”
He said the unnamed prosecutor’s utterances in court had far-reaching implications.
“I face local and international sanctions because of the terrorist remarks made in court. In September I was called an Isis terrorist by a member of the public when I went to see someone at the Durban Magistrate’s Court in an unrelated matter.”
Abrahams’ office had not responded to an email seeking comment by the time POST went to press.
Deedat is no stranger to the courts.
He recently filed a R200 000 suit against a Verulam magistrate after his eight cats “disappeared from the face of the earth”, following her issuing a final restraining order against him.
Magistrate Visha Naidoo, who has filed a notice of intention to defend that matter, had issued a final restraining order against Deedat in July. In terms of the order, Deedat - who has also been charged criminally for pointing a gun and harassing a Verulam woman - was ordered to stay away from his Verulam home, and the area in general.
Because of the order, he and his wife had relocated to Durban North, he said, adding that when he returned to his Verulam home to fetch his clothes and other possessions, his beloved cats were nowhere to be found.
A week later, Deedat issued a demand for compensation of R200 000 against a Greenwood Park police captain, for allegedly having him detained for more than 25 hours.
Deedat said he was detained with nine other suspects in a small cell.
“I am 62 years old and struggled to breathe in the cell. I was treated like a criminal,” he said.
POST