Court urged to release Najwa

2007-11-01 18:11

Cape Town - The release on bail of Najwa Petersen, accused of the murder of her entertainer husband, Taliep, was essential, to save her young daughter from long-term emotional damage, Cape Town psychologist Rosa Bredenkamp told the Wynberg Regional Court on Thursday.

Petersen has launched a second bail application before Western Cape Regional Court President, Robert Henney.

Henney in July rejected Petersen's first bail application, as did the Cape High Court when she appealed Henney's decision.

Petersen's second bail application, opposed by prosecutor Shireen Riley, is based on "new facts", and the court has to decide whether such new facts justify Petersen's release from custody.

Petersen has engaged senior counsel Herbert Raubenheimer and attorney John Riley to conduct her second bail application, and they commissioned Bredenkamp to carry out an in-depth study on the trauma suffered by Petersen's eight-year-old daughter as a result of Petersen's incarceration.

Severe trauma

Bredenkamp told the court that rumours that Petersen had caused the death of her own husband had caused a serious rift between Petersen's side of the family and the family of her dead husband.

This rift needed to be healed so that both families could function normally again, she said.

She said the daughter had suffered severe trauma, first from the death of her father, then the arrest of her mother, and then from the sudden death of her maternal grand father, who was recently killed in a car crash.

Bredenkamp said she had focused on what was in the best interests of the daughter, and her conclusion was that Petersen's return home, to be mother again, was essential.

Both Riley and the magistrate asked Bredenkamp why she had not broadened her assessment to include interviews with Taliep's family as well, instead of concentrating only on Petersen's family.

Riley said Bredenkamp's report, handed to the court, gave the impression that Petersen was the perfect mother.

Bredenkamp said her report gave a balanced picture of the situation as a whole.

She told the court: "The focus was, at the end of the day, on the eight-year-old daughter."

The case continues on Wednesday next week.

- SAPA