By Mariette le Roux
The state on Tuesday rejected claims by Pretoria advocates Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo that it had leaked a photograph of them in the nude that was published in Die Son newspaper in February.
In fact, the picture was one of several "sent into the world" by the accused themselves, prosecutor Jennifer Cronje told the Pretoria High Court.
"They did not play open cards with this court," she told judge Essop Patel.
"They played the victims of the state when it is clear they were the authors of their own fate.
"The photos were disseminated into the world at their request."
The court was to have heard arguments on Tuesday in an application by the advocate pair for Die Son to be compelled to reveal the source of the photograph it published on page three on February 18.
But their lawyers told Patel that a settlement had been reached with Die Son and sought to have the application withdrawn.
Patel was not satisfied, saying the pair had made serious allegations in their application against the state - intimating that the Directorate of Public Prosecution or police was responsible for leaking the picture.
The court had the duty, Patel said, to determine whether this was true. If the state had indeed leaked the photograph, it would jeopardise the right of the accused to a fair trial.
"This purported settlement is pulling the carpet from under the feet of the court," Patel said.
Piet Coetzee, for Prinsloo, said Die Son had given an assurance that the picture was obtained from a private person.
This was not good enough, Patel said, as it did not exclude the possibility of that person obtaining the picture from the state.
There was then argument about the admissibility of a state document, containing affidavits allegedly proving that the state was not the sole custodian of the pictures.
Cronje asked for the document to be allowed as it disproved the allegations made against the DPP and the police.
But lawyers for Prinsloo and Visser said it should be dismissed as one-sided evidence.
Cronje contended that the pair had attempted to mislead the court by stating that the state was the sole custodian of pictures seized from their home in December 2002.
An affidavit by a former employee of the couple stated that copies of the picture that appeared in Die Son and other similar ones were distributed to newspapers, magazines, friends and professional photographers.
The purpose was apparently to boost Visser's modelling career. - Sapa