Johannesburg - A former Money Point employee says he plans to lay criminal charges against Radovan Krejcir for putting him through six months of “prison hell”.
Brendan Harrison was arrested earlier this year for allegedly conspiring to kill the Czech businessman, even though the defence says he was not in the country when the alleged plot was hatched.
Harrison went to court on Thursday to hear the outcome of an application by his lawyer, advocate Jack Gerber, to have the charges dropped.
Instead, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) requested that the Germiston Magistrate’s Court provide another two weeks for their decision.
Prosecutor Corlia Meyer said on Thursday morning the DPP had received new facts on Harrison’s case and needed more time to investigate them.
Meyer said these new facts, however, could not be revealed to the court.
But magistrate Yolanda Labuschagne ruled that there was no real reason to prompt such a lengthy delay and denied the application.
She ruled that Harrison had been prejudiced by the delays, as the State had claimed it was ready for trial in September.
Labuschagne struck the case from the roll, setting Harrison free.
However, she warned him that the State could reinstate its case and subpoena him again.
A relieved Harrison smiled at the media outside the court and told reporters that he would be filing criminal charges against certain members of the state as well as Krejcir, his former employer.
“Radovan has destroyed many lives… there will be criminal charges filed,” he said.
Harrison offered his own testimony to the State currently prosecuting Krejcir for attempted murder and kidnapping.
Harrison claimed during his bail application in August that Krejcir had used Bedfordview police officers to kidnap him so that the Czech could interrogate him at gunpoint.
Harrison said he had been working with law enforcement agencies since his detention.
The investigating officer in the case, David Mothibi, detailed in an affidavit to the Germiston Magistrate’s Court the
alleged plot to kill Krejcir.
According to the affidavit, Harrison and his Money Point colleague, Michael Arsiotis, had allegedly roped in a man named “Tony” to help them in their assassination plan.
But Tony informed Krejcir’s business manager, Ivan Savov - currently in custody after being arrested for money laundering and fraud - of the plan.
The Star