Cop assault man ‘also beaten earlier’

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 11, 2014

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Cape Town - The Nigerian man who was stripped naked and assaulted by policemen, was allegedly also beaten up by two other men hours before his assault by the police, which was caught on video.

At the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday, it emerged that apart from the two police officers, two other men, Uche Anyauw and Chukweueze Cylurs, had also been charged with grievous bodily harm for allegedly assaulting Clement Emeka on Thursday.

Emeka has since gone into hiding after the video of the police assaulting him went viral on social media.

The video shows two police officers and Cape Town City Improvement District (CCID) security guards assaulting Emeka and bundling him into a vehicle. Emeka is stripped of his underwear, then kicked and punched in the groin several times.

The two cases appeared separately before magistrate Lindiwe Gura.

The police officers, Gerrit Januarie and David Gunn appeared in court first for assaulting Emeka outside the Sky Sports Bar and Restaurant in Riebeeck Street.

Januarie and Gunn, both warrant officers, are charged with assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The police officers were granted R1 500 bail each.

Prosecutor Adiel Jansen had recommended that bail be set at R2 000 and requested that Gura impose conditions that includ

ed the pair not make contact with witnesses and not visit the Cape Town Central Police Station or make contact with any police officers there.

The pair should also not visit or contact employees of Sky Sports Bar.

They must report to the nearest police station twice a week, on Monday and Friday, between 6pm and 8pm.

Gura set the bail at R1 500 after the defence teams requested it be lowered to R1 000. She also imposed the bail conditions as requested by Jansen and remanded the case to May 9 for further investigation.

Shortly afterwards, Anyauw and Cylurs also appeared on charges of assaulting Emeka but their bail application could not be heard because the investigating officer was not able to confirm their bail particulars.

Jansen, who also appeared for the State in the separate matter, said Anyauw had a warrant of arrest out for his arrest in connection with a 2010 matter.

Circumstances relating to the arrest of the two men in connection with Emeka had however not yet come before the court.

Their case has been postponed to Wednesday.

Emeka’s sister, Fortune Eneh, who was also present at the court, said Emeka had gone into hiding because he felt ashamed that people had seen him naked.

Januarie and Gunn, who have 25 and 24 years’ experience in the police service, were suspended on Thursday by provincial commissioner Arno Lamoer.

They were arrested the following day.

Anyauw and Cylurs were arrested on Saturday.

The two Cape Town City Improvement District security guards have also been suspended pending a probe into their role in the attack.

 

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