Top Namibian judge accused of child rape

February 02 2005 at 06:43PM

Windhoek - A top Namibian judge appeared in court on Wednesday charged with raping a 10-year-old girl and indecently assaulting her friend after kidnapping them in a case that has rocked the sleepy southern African country.

Supreme Court Judge Pio Teek was arrested on Monday on charges including rape, attempted rape, indecent assault and supplying liquor to minors.

Police say Teek, 57, picked up the two girls last Friday, drove them to his home outside Windhoek and allegedly plied them with beer before raping one and indecently assaulting her nine-year-old friend.

A magistrate in the capital Windhoek freed Teek on bail of R10 000, on condition he surrender his passport, remain in Windhoek district and not go within 1km of the girls or their homes in Windhoek's poor Katutura township.

:mad: Sex scandal trial no game, says judge Zelda Venter
February 03 2005 at 07:16AM

The sex scandal trial of Pretoria advocates Dirk Prinsloo and Cezanne Visser is not a game and the court is not a playground, a Pretoria High Court judge warned on Wednesday.

Judge Essop Patel warned the defence several times not to "sneak evidence in through the back door" nor to "ambush the court process".

Patel also asked Prinsloo's counsel, Pieter Coetzee, at least three times whether he was embarking on a fishing expedition.

The trial, which enters day nine today, is moving at a snail's pace and the first witness is still on the stand. Objections, disagreements and adjournments to take instructions on issues have become the order of the day.

Coetzee said he found it very odd that Prinsloo's firearm went missing Patel also warned Coetzee the court should not be used as a forum to discredit the police. This followed counsel's continual attacks on the way the police went about searching the Centurion home of Prinsloo and Visser in December 2002.

Coetzee said he found it very odd that Prinsloo's firearm went missing when the police task team searched the house. It was, however, found the next day under his pillow by a cleaner.

Patel wanted to know what the relevance was of the firearm as it did not form part of the charges against the accused. Coetzee said this proved the unfair way in which they treated the couple from the start.

"My instructions from the beginning was to attack the lawfulness of the search. I am not asking the court to set the warrant aside, but the court must decide at the end of the day if my client was treated fairly," Coetzee said.

While technicalities and bickering have taken up most of the trial, no evidence up to this point has been presented relating to the charges.

Prinsloo has pleaded not guilty to 16 charges, while Visser says she is innocent of the 15 charges against her.

These included two charges of rape, four of indecent assault and three of enticing a minor to engage in indecent acts. The only concession Prinsloo made at the start of the trial was that he did engage in oral sex with one of the alleged victims, but said it was a consensual act between adults and that Visser was present and "assisted".

Coetzee on Wednesday said Prinsloo maintained from the start that he was innocent. He even obtained the services of a private investigator to try to prove this. Coetzee said he thus could not understand how the former investigating officer, Captain Carel Cornelius, could claim Prinsloo indicated he wanted to plead guilty to the charges.

The bulk of Wednesday's hearing was taken up by the court watching a video of the couple's arrest. They were given an hour and a half to obtain legal counsel before being arrested, Cornelius said.

The video showed the couple phoning various members of the legal fraternity in a bid to find legal representation at the time. After numerous attempts, an attorney promised to help, but never arrived at their house.

The court adjourned earlier in order for counsel to try to resolve a technical issue regarding the couple's re-arrest in 2003. The defence claim the re-arrest was unlawful, while the State maintained it was in order. Patel said the parties seemed to be playing a "ping-pong game of surprises".

Visser, dressed in a chick camel-coloured suit, on Wednesday sat a short distance apart from Prinsloo and at times had her back turned to him.

When a member of the media later asked Prinsloo whether they were still "an item", he flashed his thick gold band on his wedding finger and asked "what do you think?" - High Court Reporter


This article was originally published on page 3 of Pretoria News (http://www.pretorianews.co.za/) on February 03, 2005

How dare they debate technicalities instead of the lives that have been scarred by these two sick people. Plus they are only out on about R 4000 bail which is nothing considering what they've done - is that because they are "advocates" in a corrupt system...?

I have to agree with you here - but that is the South African Justice System for you - have you seen any trial in the courts lately that is not corrupt. Our whole system is corrupt. It's sickening