Home

SCA dismisses Joao Rodrigues appeal for permanent stay of prosecution

Joao Rodrigues
Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein has dismissed an appeal brought by former apartheid-era police officer, Joao Rodrigues, against the decision of the South Gauteng High Court not to grant him a permanent stay of prosecution.

Rodrigues is being charged in connection with the death of anti-apartheid activist, Ahmed Timol, in detention in 1971.

Rodrigues was charged with Timol’s murder in 2018 after a second inquest ruled that Timol’s death was not a suicide.

Rodrigues claims that the National Director of Public Prosecution deliberately delayed prosecuting him and that the prosecution will infringe on his rights to a fair trial.

However, the SCA found that the decision by the High Court was sound and that there was no evidence that the 47 years pre-trial delay would inevitably taint the overall fairness of the trial.

The SCA held further that it could not find that the High Court erred in exercising the value judgment that it did in determining relief for a permanent stay of prosecution or that it misdirected itself in any manner justifying the interference of the court.

In this regard, the SCA granted an application for leave to appeal but dismissed the appeal against the decision of the South Gauteng High Court. No order was made as to costs.

Rodrigues’s defence asks for permanent stay of prosecution:

Author

MOST READ