NPA argues 'unwelcome precedent' in Timol application

Former apartheid police officer Joao Rodrigues could be setting an unwelcome precedent for victims of apartheid if a judge agrees to halt his trial for the murder of anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol permanently, the NPA said in court papers. According to a Mail & Guardian Online report, in answering papers at the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), Torie Pretorius, head of the NPA’s priority crimes litigation unit, said if Rodrigues’ application succeeds, it could create a blueprint for other former apartheid-era police officers to avoid prosecution. The families of activists who died in similar circumstances have also entered the fray to unite in a battle for justice for their loved ones. Timol was tortured before he was thrown from the 10th floor of John Vorster Square (now Johannesburg Central police station) in October 1971. Rodrigues filed his application for a permanent stay of prosecution in October. In court papers, he said he had been denied the right to a fair trial by undue delays and that he was too old to stand trial. But Pretorius said: ‘The applicant seeks an order, the effect of which would be to effectively deny the people ... the right to justice, the right to know the truth of what happened to their loved ones, and in particular, deny the Timol family the justice which the Constitution promises and to which they are entitled to.’