White River Magistrate’s Court postpones Libyans’ case, rules out deportation
Psira confirmed that the training facility on which the Libyan nationals had been found had contravened the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act 15 of 1998 and the Private Security Industry Regulation Act. They served the company with a notice of suspension.
The second court appearance of the 95 Libyan nationals arrested two weeks ago near White River saw the matter being postponed to August 26 for further investigations.
In his ruling, Magistrate Edward Hall granted the State’s application for postponement, as there were many issues that still needed to be considered and the State was still investigating criminal matters. Charged with contravening Section 13 of the Immigration Act of 2002 for alleged misrepresentation in their visa applications, Hall ordered all 95 accused to be remanded in custody at the Mbombela Correctional Services.
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He also ruled out deportation before the case was heard, as that would hamper prosecution.
While some of the accused appeared upbeat, posing for pictures (amid a surprise media ban on publishing their faces) and blowing kisses at certain members of the media, others appeared more vexed.
However, with the Arabic translator explaining Hall’s ruling, the general mood quickly changed once the accused realised they would not be returning to freedom any time soon. Instead of returning to the correctional services trucks, they staged a protest inside and then outside the courtroom, demanding to be sent home as they believed they had done nothing wrong.
They chanted “Free Libya!” and sang what appeared to be Arabic struggle songs.
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Additional police had to be brought in to calm the situation. The accused also vehemently lamented their prison conditions, citing a lack of Halaal-certified food, cleanliness and visitation rights. “We are not animals,” one of them blurted out in broken English.
One of the Libyans’ two privately funded defence attorneys, Ashwin Kassen, said he would address the matter with the Department of Correctional Services. Working alongside Adv Nico du Plessis, Kassen also expressed his dissatisfaction with the way in which the media has determined the narrative of the case without ‘a single shred of evidence’ and using emotive words.
“If the media hadn’t gone to the extent of creating all this hype, we wouldn’t have the external forces to deal with and this would be a straightforward case,” he said, referring to the involvement of, among others, the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of International Relations and Co-operation and the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (Psira). While refusing to disclose who was paying the accused’s legal fees, he conceded that the funding came from a Libyan source.
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Addressing public allegations that the accused had also committed other crimes such as rape and robbery in the White River area, a provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Donald Mdhluli, said no cases have been opened so far. However, he encouraged the community to come forward and open cases should any such crimes have been committed.
On the legality of the training offered to the Libyan nationals by Militas Dei Security Services (MDSS), a well-positioned source within the South African criminal justice system said the laws that would have to be looked at included the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act 15 of 1998 and the Private Security Industry Regulation Act.
He said the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorism and Related Activities Act, 2004, would only apply if a person or organisation can be proven to be assisting another person or organisation with ties to a recognised terrorist organisation.
He highlighted the challenges involved in differentiating military from security training. “For me, the key issues here are that they were in the country under false pretenses and the fact that they were found in a camp with military hardware. Even a Psira Grade A security guard is only trained to be competent with a firearm,” the source said.
He reiterated South Africa’s history with private military companies such as the Dyck Advisory Group and Executive Outcomes providing military services to other governments.
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Psira revealed at a media briefing held on Wednesday, August 7, that the MDSS had contravened the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act 15 of 1998 and the Private Security Industry Regulation Act (PSiR Act). Psira consequently served the company with
a notice of suspension in accordance with section 24 (1) (a) of the PSiR Act.
“This notice is based on the intention to suspend the company’s registration pending the outcome of the code of conduct investigation of the Authority. The notice is served to the business and is given seven days right of reply based on the notice served. MDSS has been served with notice of suspension. We provided them with the right of reply from today, August 7, until Friday, August 16, 2024,” said Psira’s spokesperson, Bonang Kleinbooi.
