Burundi: Suspect to come home
2004-10-06 10:17
Pretoria - A South African soldier accused of murder in Burundi will probably be brought back to South Africa for his own safety and for practical reasons until his trial is heard in that country.
Sergeant Philippus Jacobus Venter, 32, an air force soldier from Hoedspruit Air Force Base, is being held in a temporary cell at the military base in Bujumbura since his arrest before the weekend.
Venter, a married father of two, apparently made a confession to a colleague that connected him with the murder of a 15-year-old Burundian prostitute.
Therese Nkeshimana was allegedly raped and strangled on the night of September 19.
Her body was dumped in a ditch some distance from where the murder took place.
Her alleged murderer was apparently under the influence of alcohol when the crime was committed.
A taxi driver, who dropped the couple off on the night of the murder, was apparently one of the key witnesses in the case.
Venter might be brought home soon, where he will briefly appear before a military judge.
Depending on evidence against him, he could be placed under house arrest or held at the defence force's detention barracks in Bloemfontein.
He is one of a contingent of VIP bodyguards that has been protecting political leaders in Burundi over the past year.
He will be tried in Bujumbura as part of a transparent legal process and because most of the witnesses live there.
Venter's safety is apparently in jeopardy, as the crime he is accused of is regarded in a very serious light in Burundi and among his colleagues.
The cell in which he is being held is apparently not suitable for long-term incarceration.
There are no other prisons or police cells in Bujumbura and the defence force doesn't want him to be incarcerated by the Burundian police.
Meanwhile, a memorandum of understanding between South Africa and Burundi is being finalised and this could have an effect on Venter's prosecution.
The VIP bodyguards operate under an agreement between the two countries and are not officially part of the United Nations' force.
The memorandum is the formal part of this agreement, which will determine, among other things, under whose jurisdiction the bodyguards fall when they commit a crime.
Because both countries have not yet signed the agreement, Venter could have been prosecuted under Burundian legislation.
But Burundi has agreed that he be prosecuted by the South African defence force, which is why he had been charged on Friday.
Send e-mail to egibson@beeld.com