WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-04-27 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
Four young men, convicted last year of murdering a vagrant in a Pretoria East park in December 2001, will again be in court this week – this time to appeal against their conviction and prison sentence.
Christoff Bekker, Frikkie du Preez, Gert van Schalkwyk and Reinach Tiedt were sentenced in the Pretoria regional court in January 2007 – nearly two years after being convicted – to 12 years’ imprisonment for the murder, plus two months for the assault of another man. These sentences were to run concurrently.
But the four appealed against their sentences saying that the state had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the body found in the park was that of the man the four young men had murdered when they were teenagers.
In appeal documents handed to the Pretoria High Court the appellants argued that this fact, and the fact that cellphone records showed there was insufficient time for the teenagers to travel from a night club in Hatfield, beat up a man in Constantia Park and then drive to Moretele Park to beat up and kill another, would form the basis of the appeal. The four have been out on bail pending the outcome and have yet to spend a night in jail for the crimes they were convicted of.
Van Schalkwyk was the centre of controversy last month when he was selected for the Pumas rugby team despite the fact that he is a convicted killer.
This resulted in Butana Komphela, chairman of parliament’s portfolio committee on sports and recreation, demanding the appearance of the Mpumalanga Rugby Union before the committee to explain why Van Schalkwyk was included in the team.
Komphela called the killer’s inclusion in the team “immoral”, adding that Van Schalkwyk had shown no remorse after being convicted of killing a black man in 2001.
He said an apology was needed from the Mpumalanga Rugby Union, the South African Rugby Union and the coach for fielding the player in a match. “What they did was insensitive to the relatives of the deceased as well as the whole of South Africa,” he said.
Becker, who wants to be an actor, made headlines shortly before the four were sentenced last year when it came to light that he had starred in an advertisement for local and international distribution for a men’s fragrance company. He had earlier applied unsuccessfully for the return of his passport so he could attend an acting course in the United States.
On handing down sentence, Magistrate Len Kotze stated that the murder was caused by the heartless and indifferent actions of the accused.
The young men, who were aged 15 and 16 at the time of the crime, had shown no remorse, humanity or signs of conscience, and had instead minimised and tried to rationalise their actions.
Had the state witnesses not reported the incident months later, no one would have been the wiser. Their victim could have survived had they not lied to the police when Becker called them. These lies – that there was a problem in the park and then a call to say it was only a couple arguing – were a clear manifestation that Becker knew the man was seriously injured and could die.
Kotze said the fact that they went after the man they suspected was a thief armed with knives and a hammer showed they went looking for trouble, and expected it. Neither the use of alcohol nor their youthfulness made the crime any less loathsome.
The appellants want their sentence either reduced or set aside.