26.2.2015
11.45 am
Alex
Mitchley
FILE PICTURE: Lana
Stander claims to have been assaulted and tortured by police, who assumed she
was drunk, after she was involved in a car crash while suffering an epileptic
seizure while driving. Picture: Alaister Russell
A notice of intent to
sue is expected to be handed to national police commissioner Riah Phiyega by
the end of the week after Lana Stander was allegedly beaten and tortured by
police on Valentine’s Day.
While Stander’s lawyers at Dempster McKinnon
Incorporated confirmed the notice would be hand-delivered to the commissioner,
the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) would continuing
probing the matter after a brief hiccup.
The Ipid investigation was initially halted as
Stander refused to speak to the investigator. This was a misunderstanding as
she did not know what Ipid was and was following a directive from her lawyers
not to speak to anyone.
Ipid spokesperson Moses Dlamini said they had been
contacted to clear up the misunderstanding and that Dempster McKinnon Inc
wanted the directorate to continue their investigation.
While it is expected civil charges will be laid, it
is understood Stander has already laid criminal charges which include crimen
injuria, theft and assault.
Stander claims she was tortured, beaten,
intimidated and refused medical attention when she had a seizure after police
arrested her in the early hours of February 14, this year.
The 26-year-old said she was arrested by officers
from Randburg police station after she was involved in minor bumper bashing on
the corner of Main Avenue and Dover Road, Randburg. It was there the assault
began, according to Stander.
Lana Stander recalls her ordeal during talks
with the media, 16 February 2015, outside the Randburg Magistrate’s Court in
Johannesburg. Stander claims to have been assaulted and tortured by police, who
assumed she was drunk, after she was involved in a car crash while suffering an
epileptic seizure while driving. Picture: Alaister Russell
She said the accident occurred as a result of a
blackout she had as she suffers from epilepsy. “I blacked out as a result of my
epileptic medical condition. When I came to they were handcuffing me and
throwing me against the car.”
Stander said she was also taken to another facility,
not the police station, where the police brutality allegedly ensued. “I was
still suffering from confusion, but at this facility the officers began beating
and kicking me.”
At the police station, Robyn Friedman witnessed
officers pull Stander out by the legs in an aggressive manner. “They pulled her
by her feet and threw her on the floor. She hit her face on the floor. It was
disgusting,” said Friedman.
She noticed Stander was tensing up and having a
fit. “They (the arresting officers) just stood around her, mocking her,
imitating her and laughing.”
