Krejcir murder trial off to bumpy start

The trial of Radovan Krejcir for the murder of Sam “Cripple Sam” Issa finally started in earnest on Tuesday afternoon at the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg before Justice Winston Msimeki, but not before the morning was spent arguing over legal issues brought by Krejcir and his co-accused.

Siboniso Miya (accused 1), Nkanyiso Mafunda (accused 2), Simphiwe Memela (accused 3) and Krejcir (accused 4) stand accused of shooting Issa at least 30 times in Bedfordview in 2013 over an apparent loan of half a million rand the State is alleging Krejcir owed Issa.

The loan was supposed to be for bail money in a fraud case Krejcir was accused of. Krejcir has contradicted the claim by saying his mother, Nadezda Krejcirova – the Czech Republic’s 10th-richest woman with an estimated worth of R180 million – had paid the money to his lawyers, who offered the prosecution an opportunity to examine their books.

The trial, going since at least 2015, has been delayed by bail applications, changes of legal representation, and countless other legal roadblocks which prevented the trial moving forward.

It was classic Krejcir court proceedings on Tuesday when he and his co-accused arrived in a blare of sirens in a multi-vehicle convoy, strict entrance requirements for media, and a heavily armed strong security detail inside the courtroom.

Krejcir’s defence advocate Roelof van Wyk started proceedings by bringing an application to postpone proceedings as Krejcir was not feeling well due to medication he had received from the State psychiatrist that was not working properly.

When State advocate Lawrence Gcaba successfully opposed the motion, Krejcir then asked for permission to leave court and leave the matter to Van Wyk.

Msimela granted this and Krejcir had barely left when advocate Enrico Guameri brought an application for Gcaba to recuse himself on the grounds he was complicit in bringing charges against Miya.

This too was shot down by Msimeki and, finally, it was the turn of Krejcir’s former co-accused Borislav Grigorov, who has turned State witness, to begin giving evidence.

There was just enough time for Grigorov to explain how he had met Krejcir, back in 2011 or 2012, and began working for him by looking after Krejcir’s fleet of luxury vehicles.

Grigorov explained how he had moved up the ladder to the point where he would lock up Krejcir’s gold and diamond business, called Moneypoint, in Bedfordview and fetch Krejcir from his home in the morning before work, where he enjoyed a cigarette or two and coffee before leaving.

The trial is expected to proceed on Wednesday.

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