Modack's legal representative calls for Ipid to release its report into Kinnear's murder
|Published
Cape Town - Questions about the release of the classified report by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) into the murder of slain Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) detective Charl Kinnear took centre stage in the Western Cape High Court yesterday.
This comes amid claims by the legal representative for alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack that the report could exonerate him.
The top-secret document set tongues wagging several years ago when the preliminary report was leaked to the media.
At the time it was revealed that the report indicated that police officers could face prosecution for the death of Kinnear. It was subsequently marked as classified and is now inaccessible to the public.
At the time, Ipid spokesperson Lizzy Suping said the report remained classified and Ipid will not comment on the details of the report.
“Ipid had to classify the report to protect witnesses. It contains sensitive records relating to their personal information that cannot be made public. Furthermore, all those who are implicated cannot be named until they have been charged criminally and departmentally,” she said.
During court proceedings yesterday, Bradley Goldblatt took to the stand during cross-examination by defence teams on his evidence linked to the provision of access to the LAD platform to Modack’s co-accused, Zane Kilian.
Kilian is accused of pinging Kinnear’s phone excessively, using Goldblatt’s platform. Goldblatt told the court that despite multiple warnings to the Hawks that Kinnear may be in danger, he was told that Kinnear was being protected by the Task Force.
It was not clear if the Task Force had indeed been deployed before Kinnear’s assassination, but Goldblatt admitted that he was interviewed by Ipid while the report was being drafted.
Addressing the court yesterday, Modack’s lawyer, advocate Bash Sibda, said access to the report would go to the very heart of the mammoth underworld trial and could possibly exonerate Modack.
State prosecutor advocate Greg Wolmarans slammed this request as a “fishing expedition”, saying the State was not interested and that the focus of those tasked with writing the Ipid report differed from those from those investigating the criminal case.
Judge Robert Henney agreed with the State, saying Sibda would not get access to the report and deemed the report irrelevant to the trial.
mahira.duval@inl.co.za
Cape Argus