Dragging victim 'found in pool of blood'
2013-03-11 14:43
Benoni - A Mozambican immigrant was found in a pool of
blood after he was handcuffed and dragged behind a police van and
brought to a cell bleeding and crying, in the latest scandal to dog the
country's police force, a court heard on Monday.
Minibus taxi driver Mido Macia was brutally abused before and
after his arrest two weeks ago, prosecutor December Mthimunye said at a bail
hearing for nine policemen charged with his murder.
"The deceased died of internal injuries that
demonstrate the degree of violence inflicted," said Mthimunye, reading a
police watchdog investigator's affidavit.
Bystanders on 26 February filmed Macia being manhandled,
handcuffed to the back of the van and dragged hundreds of metres on the streets
of Daveyton, east of Johannesburg.
Extensive injuries
Just over two hours later he was found dead in his cell,
with extensive injuries, including cuts and bleeding on the brain.
Investigators ordered two autopsies after the diplomatic
embarrassment over the incident.
Internal police investigator Mandla Mahlangu later
"saw him lying and bleeding in his cell”.
He had blood "even in his heart", Mthimunye
said, quoting the post-mortem report. "And this happened in the police
station."
Macia was already injured when he arrived at the station,
contrary to police claims, he said.
"He was crying and bleeding and he already had some
open head wounds," he said, adding: "When he was booked into his cell
he was not wearing any trousers."
Didn't call ambulance
The accused officers "flouted operational
procedures" by not even calling an ambulance, Mthimunye added.
On Friday the nine policemen told the hearing at the Benoni
Magistrate's Court they were not guilty.
They said Macia, a minibus taxi driver, had assaulted a
policeman, while resisting arrest after being confronted for parking his taxi
on the wrong side of the road.
The police van driver claimed he drove away to escape the
angry crowd that had gathered, and did not know Macia was being dragged behind.
None of the accused explained how the Mozambican ended up
cuffed to the van or dead in his cell.
Footage of the incident went viral and sent shock waves
across the world, a spotlight yet again on the conduct of South Africa's much
maligned police force.
The Macia family plans to sue the police ministry for
damages, their lawyers said on Sunday.
Around 2 000 people attended Macia's funeral in his
hometown Matola in southern Mozambique on Saturday.
