Just Defiance by Harris Peter

Author:Harris, Peter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 2012-04-06T04:00:00+00:00

38

The following day, the judge finds that the evidence led by the prosecution in relation to the pointings out, as well as the confessions of the accused, is admissible. He confirms that while there is clear evidence that the accused alleged they were assaulted, this is merely evidence of the allegation having been made, it is not evidence of the actual assault.

Short, sharp and sweet, like a lemon, as they say in Durban. Even though I know there is not much else the judge could have done, based on the evidence before him, I still feel let down. Perhaps because he’d been critical of the police witnesses, I’d expected something different. He’s also not entirely correct to say that there is no evidence of assault, when at least in the case of Neo Potsane, the magistrate concerned and a number of policemen noted the injury to his eye. In addition, he should have picked up that some of the accused stated that they feared assault if they didn’t make a statement.

In the end, though, it is an academic issue, given the stance of the accused. The real question is, would he have found differently if the accused had participated and presented real evidence of assaults? I know from my consultations that we would have had difficulty finding such evidence. When you’re interrogated under Section 29 of the Internal Security Act, there are no independent witnesses. But still, it would have been interesting to see which way he would have gone if we’d come up with evidence to prove the assaults.

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