ADVOCATE TEFFO MALESELA IS ARRESTED!

 

Malesela Teffo, an attorney for four of the men accused of killing Senzo Meyiwa, was recently detained at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

The General Counsel of the Bar of South Africa (GCB) claims that the location, time, and manner of lawyer Malesela Teffo's detention gave the impression that he was being humiliated or, worse, intimidated and harassed.

Teffo is the lawyer for four of the men accused of assassinating Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa, who was killed at his lover Kelly Khumalo's Vosloorus house in 2014.

Teffo was detained by an investigating officer with the assistance of members of the Tactical Response Team, who are providing security throughout the trial after the Meyiwa murder trial was postponed on Thursday.

The GCB's chairperson, advocate Craig Watt-Pringle, SC, expressed his displeasure at Teffo's arrest. Following the widely publicized arrest, Watt-Pringle said that police were sluggish to provide an explanation "for this affront to the dignity of the court and its high-handed handling of a court officer."

He went on to say that despite his radio remark that he had spoken to the investigating officer regarding the arrest, Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela had so far been unable to give any explanation. "It's hard to conceive what might justify a defense lawyer being detained and handcuffed in the High Court building, in the light of the Meyiwa trial's notoriety, while going about his professional duties representing criminal defendants."

According to Watt-Pringle, Teffo would have been unlikely to refuse to appear at a police station for arrest if he had been summoned. "It has yet to be determined if his arrest is justified. Mr. Teffo should have been arrested like any other individual if there were grounds for his arrest. But, in the absence of convincing reasons, the location, time, and method of Mr. Teffo's detention give the impression that it was done to humiliate him, or worse, to frighten and harass him "According to Watt-Pringle.

"Watt-Pringle went on to say," Watt-Pringle said "notably, an official of the Court being harassed for defending his clients would be a major weakening of the Rule of Law. There would also be major consequences for their access to legal counsel and a fair trial."

The GCB also believed that the arrest of a High Court officer in the High Court precinct demonstrated a profound disregard for the court's dignity and insensitivity to the impression that the police were using high-handed tactics to humiliate and intimidate an advocate who was representing his clients, the accused, against the State.


BY: SURVIVE KHOZA

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