The former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head, Johan Booysen, says he’s preparing to sue the state for wrongful arrest.
He says he will soon meet with his legal team after the state’s withdrawal of charges against him and 26 detectives.
The charges included racketeering, murder and attempted murder. They relate to allegations that Booysen and the detectives of the organised crime unit at Cato Manor acted like a hit squad by killing suspects rather than bringing them to book.
Earlier this month the National Prosecuting Authority head, advocate Shamila Batohi, announced the withdrawal of racketeering charges against all the accused.
The High Court in Durban withdrew those and the other charges last Wednesday. Booysen explains: “I’ll be meeting with my legal team this week. As you are aware I have instituted civil action against the National Prosecutions Authority, IPID and the police for wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution that happened months ago. So I’ll be meeting with my legal team this week to take that matter forward. Over and above that I’ve also referred some of my complaints to the National Prosecutions Authority and I thought criminal charges against some of the prosecutors that were instrumental in my prosecution and persecution.”
