'Allah will deal with Najwa'
2008-08-15 21:45
Cape Town - A co-accused in the Najwa Petersen murder trial in the Cape High Court, was on Friday questioned about an incident during an adjournment, when Petersen allegedly asked him to "talk her out of the case".
Co-accused Waheed Hassan was asked about this during cross-examination by Petersen's senior counsel, Johan Engelbrecht.
Petersen and her three co-accused, Abdoer Emjedi, Hassen and Jefferson Snyders, have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and aggravated armed robbery, before Judge Siraj Desai and assessors.
Hassan told the court the incident involving Petersen's request to him had happened as they were all led down the steep steps in the courtroom to the holding cells below, during an adjournment, while he was still giving his main testimony to the court.
He said Petersen was at the bottom of the steps, against the door to the cells.
He said she had wept as she asked him to "talk her out of the case".
By this, he said, he had understood that she wanted him to lie to the court in order to secure her acquittal. Hassan said the request astounded him.
He added: "She knows as well as I do what her role in the murder was, I told her the people are not going to deal with her ultimately, but that Allah will."
The case continues on Monday.
- SAPA