CAPE TOWN - The Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) sergeant in the court case alongside alleged underworld kingpin, Nafiz Modack, had his motion to have a separate bail application denied in the Blue Down’s Regional Court yesterday.
Sergeant Ashley Tabisher filed for a motion to have his bail application finalised. The application brought before the court also asked for the matter to be dealt with separately than that of his co-accused in the case.
Last week, an urgent application for bail was conducted at the Western Cape High Court application under Rule 6 of the Uniform Rules of Court which governs how judges can determine the urgency of an application and Tabisher was granted R5 000 bail.
However, upon his release a U-turn was made by the court.
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Eric Ntabazalila, said at the time that once the NPA learnt of Tabisher’s being granted, it brought an application to challenge his release.
The order for Tabisher’s release was then rescinded by the Judge President.
It is the State’s case that Tabisher is in cahoots with Modack.
Tabisher and Modack, along with Zane Kilian, Jacques Cronje, Ricardo Morgan, Jannick Adonis and Amaal Jantjies, have been accused of being members of the “Nafiz Modack Enterprise” which the State claims is behind the plot to kill AGU commander Charl Kinnear and his family.
Tabisher allegedly accepted a R10 000 bribe and a cellphone from Jantjies to leak information about planned AGU raids on Modack’s homes.
However, Tabisher has been adamant he is not guilty of the charges brought against him and that he was only acting on instruction from his commanding officer at the time, Major-General Andre Lincoln.
Tabisher’s defence, Advocate Bruce Hendricks, said it was in his client’s constitutional right to be afforded an opportunity for bail after he has been remanded for over 200 days and the bail applications had been dragging along.
The State closed its case against Tabisher in September.
Hendricks said his client has been suffering from medical conditions and provided the court with an affidavit to state his client nearly suffered a heart attack or stroke.
When the State handed an affidavit over from healthcare workers at Goodwood Prison to say they were more than capable of to treating Tabisher, Hendricks stated his client was rushed to a hospital facility outside the prison on Wednesday and questioned the affidavit handed over to the court.
However, the State argued it was not in the best interest for this motion to be granted as it would not only drag out proceedings, but would call for more resources to be utilised in this separate matter.
The court thus found in favour of the State, denying the motion and said not only would it affect the current procedures of the matter, it would also prejudice the co-accused in the matter.
As he was being led from court, Tabisher's last words were: “Justice delayed is justice denied”.