Jailed drug dealer gets laptop
|Published
091210 Frank Nabolisa at the court hearing of Sheryl Cwele in Pietermaritzburg 091210 Frank Nabolisa at the court hearing of Sheryl Cwele in Pietermaritzburg
Johannesburg - Convicted drug dealer Frank Nabolisa has been allowed to receive reading material, including a personal computer or laptop with access to the internet, in order to further his studies.
But this would be done under supervision.
Judge Cathy Satchwell ruled on Wednesday that Nabolisa must be given a “reasonable time to study or to use the computer”.
However, the judge said the times during which he would use the computer would be determined by the head of the Correctional Services centre where he is held.
The prison authorities would also decide where the computer would be kept.
Nabolisa filed an application against the minister of correctional services in the Johannesburg High Court for certain prisoner privileges.
He wanted his right to education and to be classified as a Group A prisoner with better privileges, which meant he could get his own computer to study further.
Nabolisa is serving a 20-year sentence.
He was initially sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment along with his accomplice Sheryl Cwele, the ex-wife of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele.
When they appealed their conviction and sentence, the Supreme Court of Appeals (SCA) in Bloemfontein increased the sentence to 20 years.
Nabolisa challenged the SCA decision in the Constitutional Court. The court reserved judgment in the case on March 7.
The Star