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PRISON
KILLING OUTRAGE (Part 2)
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Portfolio committee chair defends warders
The two other prisoners have been admitted to an unidentified hospital, where their condition has been described as critical but stable. Molatedi said a fourth prisoner was also treated at the same hospital and discharged. The warder who was seriously wounded in the attack is still in hospital. Molatedi said the prison authorities were conducting an internal probe and had also reported the case to the police. The Star witnessed the attack, and lensman Itumeleng English took pictures of it as three warders took turns to form a circle, beating the man. Warders later surrounded English and reporter Kutlwano Olifant, subjecting them and two other photographers to an hour-long investigation. Cameras, memory cards and cellphones were confiscated. Warders then went and searched the memory cards and phones in their IT section. Eventually, the journalists had their belongings returned to them – but not the cameras’ memory cards. On Wednesday night, The Star editor Makhudu Sefara instructed the newspaper’s lawyers to demand the return of the journalists’ possessions and an apology for the manner in which his staff had been treated. By late last night, neither issue had been addressed. Sefara said he was not surprised. The SA National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) said yesterday it regarded the detention and searches of the journalists in an extremely serious light. “We believe that the deletion of photographs was an attempt to destroy evidence and merits charges of defeating the ends of justice against those responsible,” said Sanef acting chairman Nic Dawes. The journalists had been at the prison to accompany the parliamentary portfolio committee on correctional services and the select committee on security and constitutional affairs, which were investigating last Monday’s crisis when prisoners rioted. Hundreds of prisoners had to be transferred to other prisons as a result. Yesterday morning, portfolio committee chairman Vincent Smith lashed out at The Star for breaking an agreement not to take pictures and for suggesting that the warders had acted incorrectly. “Firstly, the facts are that a DCS (Department of Correctional Services) official was assaulted (stabbed in the neck and head) by three inmates during the oversight visit, and this is what caused the commotion yesterday at Groenpunt maximum centre. “Other DCS officials then reacted by restraining the three inmates involved. And yes, there might have been force in doing so. Your headline creates the perception that there was abuse perpetrated by DCS officials on inmates. “The portfolio committee was present, and it is inconceivable that any abuse could be contemplated or perpetrated in the presence of members of Parliament.” Last night, researcher Ruth Hopkins, of the Wits Justice Project, which investigates miscarriages of justice, said it was illuminating that everyone was focusing on the breach of an “agreement” and not the warders’ conduct. Attorney Thilevhali Radzilani, of Rajen and Naidoo Incorporated, said the prisoners had a strong case if they decided to press charges. He added that what happened at Groenpunt did little to promote and encourage rehabilitation. By Kutlwano Olifant and Baldwin Ndaba The Star 18/01/13 Early Edition |
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Crimes of the South African Police Service
