The warning follows the recent circulation mostly on Twitter, of a photo and a video clip depicting someone that is handcuffed, with whoever posted the material suggesting that the man is a suspect wanted by police for multiple rape cases in Ekurhuleni.
“This practice inevitably favours the suspect in that the case gets jeopardised and the suspects might never face a day in court, while the actual victim of crime is disadvantaged and deprived of finding justice.”
Peters said section 69 of the South African Police Service Act of 1995 states that, “no person may, without the written permission of the National or Provincial Commissioner, publish a photograph or sketch of a person who is suspected of having committed an offence, pending a decision to institute criminal proceedings against him or her” and, any person who publishes such a photograph or sketch “shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months.”
Gauteng Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, condemned the latest circulation of material depicting an alleged serial rapist that was never confirmed by the SAPS in the first place.
“We acknowledge that police have little control over the content posted by social media users on their private accounts. We do therefore appeal once more, for social media users to consider the victims of crime and the negative implications their posted content could have on the process of ensuring justice for the victims.”