By Thandi Skade
Farouk Meyer, the convicted triple murderer who made a brazen escape from prison on Monday, is back behind bars.
Meyer, 33, honoured his word and handed himself over at the Sandton police station on Wednesday.
Dressed in a beige suit, blue shirt and tie, Meyer stepped out of a taxi carrying a black briefcase.
He was met by a contingent of media members, police officers, relatives, Sandton police station commissioner Director Alan Billings, Department of Police spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi, Gauteng Justice Department spokesperson Collin Msibi as well as the handover facilitator, 702 Crime Line head Yusuf Abramjee.
Before handing over the allegedly compelling evidence he claims would prove his innocence, Meyer said he was not scared of going back to prison, but that he wanted to ensure justice was served and all criminals involved in his case were held accountable. "All I'm asking for is justice... Every person who committed a crime must be held accountable for their crime," he said.
By "every person" he was referring, among others, to the investigating officer who he claimed planted two extra bullets that got him convicted for three murders.
Meyer was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2000 after he was convicted of murdering Desmond Bethanie, Gerald Jacobs and Dawood Malgas inside Club 12 Play in Hillfox, west of Joburg, in November 1999. While he admitted he had fired the shot that fatally wounded Bethanie and Jacobs, he maintained it was in self-defence. He said he was wrongfully convicted for the murder of his friend Malgas.
In a desperate attempt to highlight his "injustice", Meyer escaped from Groenpunt Prison in Vereeniging on Monday while working outside the prison. He said he simply "ran over the veld and got into a taxi and escaped like that".
He claimed there was corruption within the police and prosecuting authority, which he said had secured his conviction. He had sent a petition to the Justice Department in 2005 but never heard from them.
Msibi confirmed that evidence had been handed over to the Justice Department and that they would "look into it". He added that Meyer's petition had been withdrawn sometime in 2007, but could not say why.
Correctional Services spokesman Manelisi Wolela said Meyer would be "downgraded" and sent to a maximum security prison where privileges he once used to enjoy, like working, would be withdrawn.
"Evidence" Meyer handed over included a statement from one of the deceased's daughters saying her father was friends with the investigating officer, and statements from other witnesses saying the investigating officer had "influenced" them.