Waterkloof appeal 'within months'
2007-01-30 14:59
Pretoria - The "Waterkloof Four's" legal team hopes an appeal to the High Court against the guilty verdict and prison sentence given to the four could be heard with the next six months.
Advocate Jaap Celliers SC, acting on behalf of Christoff Becker and Frikkie du Preez, told the court if the State asked the directorate of public prosecutions to speed up the case it could happen even sooner. It all depended on the High Court's diary.
He and attorney Oeloff de Meyer, who is acting on behalf of Gert van Schalkwyk and Reinach Tiedt, were ready to proceed with the appeal.
On Tuesday Pretoria regional court magistrate Len Kotze sentenced the four to 12 years imprisonment for the murder of an unidentified man.
He also sentenced them to two months of imprisonment for the assault on another man, which happened on the same night of the murder in 2001.
"This was a cruel murder committed by four cowards," Kotze said.
He however granted their legal representative leave to appeal saying it would be only "fair" for them to exhaust all legal avenues.
The four's bail has also been extended, meaning they will not go to prison pending the outcome of the appeal.
- SAPA