Johannesburg - Radovan Krejcir could soon be slapped with a massive legal bill after he lost his “hopeless” bid to reveal the phone records of policemen and an investigator on Monday.
The Czech fugitive launched a bid in June to subpoena the phone records of crime intelligence cop Colonel Nkosana “Killer” Ximba, forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan, and later, those of the investigating officer who arrested Krejcir in November, Captain Freddy Ramuhala.
Krejcir’s legal team have argued that the records will show that Ximba and O’Sullivan were linked to the investigation and the arrest of Krejcir and his co-accused Desai Luphondo, who was allegedly assaulted to extract a confession.
Krejcir’s legal team have already been provided with the phone records from the three’s cellphone service providers, but they are sealed and kept with the registrar of the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Joburg, where the trial is being heard.
On Monday, the three men won their application for an interdict to prevent Krejcir’s lawyers from accessing the records.
Judge Colin Lamont agreed that access could infringe on the three men’s right to privacy and safety and that his legal team had failed to provide notice to the men before getting the records from the service providers.
The judge went on to say that Krejcir had persisted with what he described as a hopeless bid for the records, which had wasted the court’s time, and that “he should not go unpunished” for this.
Krejcir should be ordered to pay the cost of both senior and junior counsel, Judge Lamont said.
It is understood the counsel will now have to submit the order to the registrar of the high court, who will have to decide how much is owed. The legal costs are not restricted to court appearances, but included preparation time for arguments.
O’Sullivan said he had spent R1.5 million in legal fees in this case so far.
Krejcir was not prevented from attempting to gain access to the records again through other legal avenues, Judge Lamont pointed out.