Durban - LAWYERS for the 12 men accused of planting a series of incendiary devices at Woolworths stores across Durban last year argued that prosecutors were dragging their feet and this was becoming expensive for their clients.
The matter was heard at the Verulam Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
State advocate Torie Pretorius asked the magistrate to postpone the matter. He said they had to work through five terabytes worth of information and analyse 216 mobile devices, and to be precise in going through the information. “We need an expert on ISIS analysis. We need an expert on ISIS flags,” Pretorius said.
Because of the volume of information that they had to go through, it was not realistic to expect them to complete analysis now, he said.
Last year 19 men were arrested in connection with the devices, but charges against seven were dropped. The men face charges including terrorism, murder and extortion.
Advocate Jimmy Howse, who represented most of the men, said he had an issue with how the matter was being handled in terms of the number of postponements they had been forced to deal with. He wanted the matter to be dealt with “yesterday”.
He also lamented that the State had given them documents on Friday last week, which was short notice before yesterday’s hearing. Howse added that he had raised the issue of delays with the previous specialist prosecutor, Adele Barnard, before she was removed from the case.
He also questioned how the State had obtained voice recordings of the alleged kingpin, Farhad Hoomer, who is out on bail of R200 000.
Last year incendiary devices were found at various Woolworths stores and near Greyville Racecourse. This resulted in the retail chain stepping up its security at all its stores.
During the men’s bail hearings it emerged that they had allegedly run an extortion ring which had demanded up to R1.4 million from businesses in the city. The payments were to be made in various forms, including Bitcoin. When the Hawks made the arrests, they found bomb-making manuals, Islamic State propaganda and other items.
Magistrate Irfan Khalil adjourned the matter to August to hear arguments on the voice recordings of Hoomer. The State also asked for the matter to be postponed to September for further investigations.