Kimberley business people in uncut diamonds dealing saga no longer free as court rules that case start from scratch
|Published
File picture: Reuters File picture: Reuters
The permanent stay of prosecution previously won by 13 Kimberley-based business people accused of crimes, including illegal dealing in uncut diamonds, has been revoked.
The trial of the diamond dealers nabbed in 2014 following a two-year Hawks probe, code named Project Darling, will be run from scratch - two years after it was scuppered.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has ruled in favour of the application by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to have the case back in court.
The 13 accused are Ashley Brooks, Patrick Mason, Manojkumar Detroja, Karel van Graaf, Sarel van Graaf, Trevor Pikwane, Kevin Urry, Jan Weenink, Mcdonald Visser, Antonella Florio-Poone, Ahmed Khorani, Komilan Packrisamy and Frank Perridge.
In 2018, Judge Johann Daffue ruled in favour of their application for a permanent stay of prosecution as they had been prejudiced by unreasonable delays. The case had seen countless postponements before this victory.
The 13 won the stay of prosecution just as the NPA sought to have the trial started from scratch, due to the fact that a trial judge had recused herself from the case, apparently due to threats she received for presiding over the matter.
Judge Daffue ruled: “The delay must be attributed to the inaction of the State advocates .”
But SCA Acting Judge Willem Eksteen found that the delays could not be blamed on the State, nor could they be declared unreasonable. He also found that the 13 failed to prove that they would suffer prejudice in a fresh trial. They faced 139 charges that included racketeering, corruption and illegal dealing in uncut diamonds.
The Hawks traced transactions totalling R28-million in illegal deals.
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