Barbie jailed for drugs, porn
2002-12-20 23:11
Nicolize Mulder and Alet Rademeyer
Pretoria - South Africa's controversial advocate duo are set to spend the weekend in jail.
Dirk Prinsloo (33) and his beloved Cezanne (25), previously Visser, both advocates, briefly appeared in the Pretoria Regional Court following their arrest on Thursday evening.
A special task team of the units for domestic violence, child protection and sexual abuse (DCS), murder and robbery and the narcotics bureau swooped on their home in Raslouw, Centurion. The house was searched for almost 11 hours.
Their court appearance is connected to allegations of possible attempted murder, and the possession of pornography, dagga, banned substances and undesirable material.
They were not formally charged in court. The couple stood arm-in-arm in the dock ahead of court proceedings, quietly talking to each other. They kissed after the court was adjourned.
Regional Magistrate Magriet Cook was told the allegations of attempted murder brought against Dirk Prinsloo appeared to be connected to an earlier case, which had been withdrawn when the alleged victim could not be traced.
The case was postponed until Tuesday for possible bail applications. The couple were taken from court in separate cars. Cezanne is being detained in the Moot police cells, while Dirk is being held at Wonderboompoort.
Louis Wiese, for the State, said the investigating team requires more time to check video and computer material as well as websites. The court heard that foreign addresses needed to be checked.
Kenny Boonzaier, for the Prinsloos, accused police of dragging their feet in bringing charges against the Prinsloos to court.
He asked the court why the task team decided to swoop on a Thursday afternoon shortly before Christmas. He found it irregular that the Prinsloos had been arrested before the search of their home had been completed. At some stage in the proceedings they were handcuffed.
The court was told they were taken to police cells in the early hours of Friday morning.
Boonzaier said he found the fact that police opposed bail because of the couple's notoriety irregular. He argued police intended to put pressure on the Prinsloos while they were in custody to try and extract more information from them.
Wiese denied any vendetta on the side of the police against the couple.
Cezanne, who jokingly refers to herself as "Advocate Barbie", wore a tight-fitting pants suit. Her long, blonde hair was tied in a ponytail. Various family members supported her.
She earlier made headlines for undergoing a drastic breast enlargement and for entering the Idols competition. The Prinsloos and the Sunday newspaper Rapport have had a few skirmishes in the Pretoria High Court, including a spat over a set of sex photos in the newspaper's possession.