Warrant for cop

2003-11-21 07:08

Philip de Bruin

Pretoria - A warrant has been approved and issued for the arrest of director Vincent Ntengo, the ranking police officer at the time magistrate Hendrik van der Walt of Groblersdal was arrested at his offices on October 30.

The warrant was issued by a Pretoria magistrate for charges of contempt of court and abduction, relating to Van der Walt's arrest.

In a further development, the International Commission of Jurists appealed to President Thabo Mbeki in a letter on Thursday, urging him to investigate the matter and take disciplinary action against the guilty parties.

Van der Walt was arrested for defeating the ends of justice after he postponed a fraud case against a traffic official from Groblersdal and an clerk from the Marble Hall police station.

He released them on their own recognisances and scrapped the case from the roll at the next court date.

In both cases, the police dossiers were not at court for no apparent reason.

Cops says he 'monitored' the arrest

Van der Walt was held for six hours and would have spent the night behind bars if a senior police officer had not intervened about 20:00 that night.

Ntengo said earlier that he only "monitored" Van der Walt's arrest.

However, Van der Walt said Ntengo was actively involved in his arrest.

Deputy national prosecutor Jan Henning confirmed he had applied for the warrant before police officially opened a docket.

"In documents applying for the warrant I pointed out that magistrate Van der Walt's arrest had been a gross violation of the judiciary.

"He had been taken into custody for rulings he had made as an officer of the court.

"I also pointed out the gross contempt of the court and its functions."

Police and the department of justice are still investigating the case.

- Beeld