Hijack accused 'could flee'

2006-07-13 16:21

Cape Town - The Zimbabwean student accused of trying to hijack a South African Airways domestic flight last month was denied bail in the Bellville magistrate's court on Thursday.

Tinashe Rioga, 21, had failed to prove the exceptional circumstances necessary for bail to be granted, Magistrate Marietjie Marais ruled.

She also said she had to consider his own safety, in the light of the threatening SMS messages he claimed drove him to the abortive hijack bid.

Rioga, who is registered at the University of Cape Town, was charged under the Aviation Act after allegedly brandishing a hypodermic syringe on a Cape Town to Johannesburg flight last month. Passengers and crew overpowered him.

Could harm others

He had asked to be released on R3 000 bail, but Marais said there was a likelihood that if he was released, he might endanger members of the public again.

She also said the court needed a high degree of assurance that if he was granted bail, he would stand trial.

She said Rioga was a student, a Zimbabwean citizen, and had a study permit that expired at the end of this year. Other than that, he had no financial, property or family ties in South Africa.

He had indicated to the investigating officer that he intended eventually settling in the United States, and he was in his final year of study now.

If he was found guilty he faced "many years imprisonment" - a minimum of five and maximum of 30 years in jail.

Marais said she believed it was likely that Rioga's family could help him evade trial, as they seemed to be financially very well off.

The fact that the investigating officer already had his passport meant little, as passports could be obtained so easily.

There was therefore a "real risk" that he would not stand trial if he got bail. She said she also had to consider Rioga's own safety.

The SMS messages Rioga received a few days before the flight were of a threatening nature, but it was not clear who they came from, what they were about, or what Rioga was involved in.

"In this case I don't know what the safety condition of the accused is going to be," she said.

Rioga has claimed he wanted to divert the flight to Maputo because he feared that the sender of the messages was waiting for him in Johannesburg.

Marais also said indications were that Rioga's case would be heard in the regional rather than the High Court. The regional court rolls were full well into 2007, she said.

The matter was postponed to July 18.

- SAPA