Johannesburg - Shortly after Radovan Krejcir and Judge Colin Lamont concluded their decidedly one-sided duel in the high court in Joburg, their battleground had to be evacuated after a conveniently timed bomb threat.
Krejcir and his five co-accused were in the middle of their sentencing proceedings when prosecutor Louis Mashiane told the court there had been a security breach.
Judge Lamont immediately suspended proceedings, moving quickly out of the courtroom.
The more than a dozen Tactical Response Team officers monitoring the case immediately began emptying the court, as one of their number sprinted down the corridor leading to the judge’s chambers.
Security officials and police in attendance confirmed to The Star a bomb threat had been called in to the office of the Gauteng judge president.
Meanwhile, as members of the K9 unit arrived with a sniffer dog, they confirmed that their mandate was to inspect the sixth floor, where Krejcir’s court proceedings were taking place.
While no device was found, the bomb threat came after Krejcir was forced to represent himself, having recently terminated his latest lawyer’s contract because of an alleged conflict of interest.
He immediately began launching numerous applications with the judge, and as all others had been denied, Krejcir’s despondency set in.
The chains binding his arms and legs rattled as he tried to ask Judge Lamont for more time to get a new lawyer, for a Czech interpreter, access to a phone in prison, to have the chains removed and even for the judge’s recusal.
But the no-nonsense judge wasn’t having any of it, and pointed out repeatedly that Krejcir had had several months to either ensure a lawyer appeared on his behalf, or prepare a case for himself, denying each request as it came.
Krejcir and his co-accused are facing a lengthy prison sentence for the kidnapping and attempted murder of Bhekithemba Lukhele, whose brother Bhekisizwe Nkosi had stolen and fled with a large supply of crystal meth from Krejcir.
While the group were convicted in August last year, numerous delays have prevented sentencing, from Krejcir firing his lawyers to the State failing to deliver pre-sentencing reports.
Krejcir’s alleged attempts to escape from custody have seen the Czech fugitive transferred to a maximum security prison, with more than a dozen heavily armed TRT officers attending each of his recent court proceedings.
The Star reported last week that Krejcir had allegedly masterminded a plot to have Judge Lamont killed, and yesterday the tight security was once again increased. Krejcir arrived in court with new chains and handcuffs securing his legs and arms.
He bemoaned his prison conditions, saying he had been subjected to two years of psychological torture since his arrest.
But when Judge Lamont said Krejcir could not have a postponement for his new lawyer Cliff Alexander to appear before the court, and that a translator would not be necessary for the Czech considering he’d listened to his trial in English, Krejcir immediately asked for the judge to recuse himself.
Read: Krejcir’s hard-core lockdown in Kokstad
Krejcir argued that the judge had shown significant bias during the trial and conviction, saying Judge Lamont had been influenced by multiple media reports that the Czech was trying to kill him. He accused the judge of putting words in witnesses’ mouths, assisted the State and that the judge had been harsher on the defence, adding Judge Lamont was “biased”, “unfair”, “proven untruthful” and “unobjective”.
Krejcir then accused the judge of having disclosed information to a friend on his conviction before it had been given. “You are part of the conspiracy against me and my family,” said Krejcir. He also insisted the security surrounding the case had been taken too far, saying the courtroom had been transformed into a “circus”.
Unfazed, Judge Lamont denied all the requests and dismissed the recusal application, also noting that he was not influenced by the media coverage of Krejcir’s case. “None of these matters are evidence of bias,” he said.
When Krejcir applied to be removed from his chains during the proceedings, Judge Lamont said he had no control over the court’s security and that Krejcir needed to take it up with the authorities.
Krejcir was then asked to argue in mitigation of his sentencing, where he tried to explain his current medical state, though he repeatedly asked for his psychologist or psychiatrist to be subpoenaed to testify. But Judge Lamont was unsympathetic.
The Star