Lawyer slams police for ‘unlawful arrest’ of AKA murder suspects

The lawyer representing four men who were arrested in connection with murders of Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his friend, Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane has denied their involvement in the crime and slammed police for their unlawful arrest.

Over the weekend reports emerged that men had been apprehended in connection with the murders of the rapper and his friend.

The arrest of the five men, in two operations, has since been shrouded in mystery with police refusing to comment on the arrests.

Unlawful custody

On Thursday it emerged that three of the suspects had been released.

Advocate Annelene van den Heever told The Citizen that the suspects were held in police custody for more than 48 hours, which she said was unlawful.

Van den Heever also said that four men were arrested, not five as initially reported.

Three of the suspects linked to a hijacking case were released on Wednesday after the Crime Administration System (CAS) number was invalid.

The remaining suspect, Siphamandla Ngcobo, appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Thursday for alleged robbery with aggravated circumstances committed in January.

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Adjournment

Van den Heever said Prosecutor Kuveshni Pillay has asked for a seven day adjournment for an identity parade and domicilium citandi (address verification).

“We are objecting to the seven days, we say his face was all over social media and he was unlawfully in custody because his 48 hours expired on Tuesday.”

Earlier, Pillay opposed an application by various media organisations for Ngcobo to be photographed, saying an identity parade was yet to be conducted.

However, Magistrate Ashwin Singh denied her application.

“The accused’s name is on the charge sheet and I can’t stop the media from publishing the name as the charge sheet is a public document,” he said.

Police confirmation

Van den Heever said she cannot understand why police refused to confirm the arrests.

“Nobody knows, I can’t comment on it. They perpetuated the narrative that they are linked to AKA’s case. How simple is it just to say ‘no’. We are now going to wait to hear what the magistrate (Ashwin Singh) is going to do in this matter. If he says my client must stay in custody, we are going to arrange for a bail application as soon as possible.”

The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police are adamant that there was no update surrounding the murder of AKA, almost rubbishing reports that five people were taken in for questioning.

Suspect injured

Van den Heever also said Ngcobo was injured, but did not specify if he suffered the injuries while in police custody.

However, it has been reported that Ngcobo’s ankle was hurt after being tied with a rope, had wrist injuries due to them being bound together and injuries to his lower back.

“My client needs to go to the hospital, he’s got serious injuries, he needs to go see a doctor.”

Van den Heever said her client has been charged with robbery of a Mercedes-Benz and has not seen the docket.

“We all know there’s a white Mercedes Benz linked to [AKA’s] case.”

AKA and his friend Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane were shot dead in an apparent hit while standing outside the Wish Restaurant in Durban in February.

ALSO READ: AKA murder: Police refuse to confirm arrests of suspects