Johannesburg - The Joburg businessman who recorded a video using the k-word while on an overseas holiday could evade criminal prosecution as his hosting country might not recognise the racist offence.
Legal experts said crimen injuria, a crime that Adam Catzavelos, 39, is likely to have committed, could be difficult to prosecute as he committed it in a foreign country that does not deem the use of the k-word as a criminal offence.
The use of the word remains a crime in South Africa and former estate agent Vicki Momberg became the first citizen to be convicted this year for using the racial slur.
Advocate Zola Majavu said it would be a long stretch to prosecute Catzavelos. “The offence was committed in a foreign country so you can’t prosecute him in South Africa unless what he did is also an offence where he recorded the video then you can have him extradited. The rule is, you are prosecuted where you commit the offence,” said Majavu.
He added that even though Catzavelos’s video circulated on social media, the State would have to determine the exact original location of the offender at the time of distribution.
“If he posted the video (directly to Twitter) while in South Africa then he can be charged in terms of the Electronic Communications Act. Also, if he shot the video in South Africa and then distributed it while overseas,” said Majavu.
Catzavelos was believed to be in Greece when he recorded the video that has gone viral and circulated the leaked video among his friends.
A lawyer working for an advocacy NGO said: “Using the k-word is a crimen injuria crime in SA but it does not necessarily mean that it can invoke an extraterritorial jurisdiction as that is only applicable to crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It’s highly possible that he can get away with this unless a loophole can be found somewhere,” said the lawyer.
Catzavelos was believed to have shot his 22 second-long video while on holiday in Europe. It shows him panning a camera around the beach appreciating the fact that there were “no f*****g k*****s in sight.”
It caused outrage on Twitter on Tuesday night and continued to trend yesterday afternoon. Cases of crimen injuria and hate speech were opened against him by several organisations and individuals yesterday.
His business associates, including family members, whom he runs five businesses with, expressed disgust at his racist behaviour and distanced themselves from him.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said it was too early to start prosecuting him as they had not received police dockets yet.
“A docket has to be opened by the police first and then given to us to study and consider all the evidence in it. At this stage we don’t feature, the police will have to investigate the case first,” said NPA spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku.
AfriForum chief executive Kallie Kriel said they would prosecute Catzavelos should the NPA drag its feet. “We condemn any form of racism and if the State fails to prosecute him, we will gladly take up the matter,” said Kriel.
SA Human Rights Commission spokesperson Gushwell Brooks said the organisation would investigate the matter.
“We have not received any complaints, however, our Gauteng office and legal services will open our own investigation. Social media has made racism public and visible,” added Brooks.
By yesterday morning several businesses had disassociated themselves from Catzavelos's family business franchises, BBQ King Distribution, St George’s Fine Foods and The Smokehouse and Grill.
Societies, which represent people of Greek heritage in South Africa, also distanced themselves from him. The final nail in Catzavelos’s coffin was hammered by his own family who issued a statement announcing that he had been fired from the family business.
As outrage swelled over the video, Nike, the employer of Catzavelos’s wife, also temporarily closed its stores yesterday.
In a short message Nike said: “Our team is aware of this incident. This person is not a Nike employee, however, it sounds like they are related and it’s also still a serious issue that is being looked into on our end.”