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South Africa: Charges Against Reporter Withdrawn

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: 2010-09-08 Time: 17:00:02  Posted By: News Poster

By Ernest Mabuza

Johannesburg – THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) announced yesterday it would provisionally withdraw – for the second time – the case against Sunday Times reporter Mzilikazi wa Afrika and co-accused Victor Mlimi for further investigations.

Mr wa Afrika was arrested by police on August 4 on charges of fraud, forgery and uttering at the Avusa offices in Johannesburg.

The prosecution withdrew the charges but reinstated them the next day. Mr wa Afrika was retained in custody but released by a North Gauteng High Court order on August 5. His case was postponed to November 8.

The withdrawal of the charges against Mr wa Afrika suggests the police arrested him before completing their investigations.

NPA spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said that after perusing the case docket containing evidential material, the NPA was of the view that the matter must be fully investigated before deciding whether or not to prosecute. “Once investigations have been concluded, the docket will be re-submitted to the NPA,” Mr Mhaga said.

Mr Mhaga said the implication of the decision to provisionally withdraw was that the prosecution could reinstate the case when the investigations were done. The NPA was not convinced the investigation would be fully completed by November 8, he said.

Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said she would ask the Independent Complaints Directorate to investigate the wrongful arrest of Mr wa Afrika.

“For the second time since his arrest … the NPA has today stated that charges against Mr wa Afrika will be formally withdrawn, due to insufficient evidence. If there was insufficient evidence for prosecution, why was Wa Afrika arrested in the first place?

“The impression is left that this arrest was intended to send a clear and unequivocal message: if you publish unflattering reports about government officials, you can expect harassment and intimidation from the state.”

Original Source: Business Day (Johannesburg)
Original date published: 8 September 2010

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201009080279.html?viewall=1