Teacher
sues police after dagga arrest
|
A North West teacher is suing the police for R120 000 for damages,
saying his colleagues and his pupils’ parents have treated him like a
criminal since his unlawful arrest for dagga possession.
The claim by Bloemhof secondary school teacher Mothobi Jonas Serape against the minister of police was postponed indefinitely in the North Gauteng High Court this week. Serape said in court papers that he was at a friend’s home in May 2012 when the Bloemhof police arrested him without a warrant for alleged possession of dagga. He was detained at the police station overnight before being released without paying bail or being given a date to appear in court. He is suing the minister for deprivation of freedom and humiliation and damage to his good name. He claims his colleagues and his pupils’ parents were treating him like a criminal. He also said he had been detained under inhuman and degrading circumstances in a dirty, lice-infested cell with no proper sleeping facilities and little food and water. Serape alleged the police had wrongfully set the law in motion against him because his friend, who is the owner of the house, had told them that the three pots of dagga that were on the premises belonged to him but that he actually didn’t know anything about the drugs. The police opposed Serape’s claim saying that he was lawfully arrested as a suspect in the company of two other people who were suspected participants in a crime. They added that it was improbable that Serape would be treated like a criminal by anyone given his right to be presumed innocent until he was proven guilty. The police said their conduct was aimed at protecting citizens, including Serape, and there was no proof that they had acted unconstitutionally in any way on that occasion. They insisted Serape and the other inmates had been “treated well in a hygienic environment with normal conditions befitting the holding cells”. They also denied that the law had been unlawfully set in motion against him as he was never charged and had not appeared in court. By Ilse de Lange |
Kindly note that the writer does not necessarily agree with the views expressed by reporters, organizations, individuals, news networks, committees, websites or governments. Neither must my use of local or foreign electronic media sources, either the written content or photographic materials, or any information carried in this document be construed as my personal view. Due to uncontrollable factors we are also unable to guarantee the accuracy of information provided. e-book