Maties tell of cop terror
2008-03-10 07:17
Stephan Matthee and Jason Boswell
Stellenbosch - The heavy-handed behaviour of police in drug busts in three night spots might end up in court after various partygoers lodged complaints against the police.
The raids took place in the Mystic Boer, Bohemia and the Springbok Pub early on Saturday morning.
According to police, drugs were found in all three places.
Reports claim that the police used pepper spray and fired shots.
Female partygoers were allegedly searched by a male policeman.
Police spokesperson Elliot Sinyangana said the drug busts, at about 01:00, yielded six pieces of hashish, 150g dagga and some cocaine.
He said that no one had been arrested because the drugs that were found had been left behind in the clubs.
Sinyangana added that complaints over police conduct would be investigated thoroughly.
Among those allegedly manhandled in Bohemia were a Belgian poet and a Dutch author.
Cellphone recording
The police apparently ordered students to destroy cellphone recordings of the raids. Some students claim their cellphones were broken.
Video recordings from closed-circuit television cameras in two of the popular night spots show how the police stormed in with guns and shoved both male and female students around without them putting up any resistance.
They also show the police spraying pepper spray in students' faces while they were sitting on the ground.
"You can't search my vagina!" a distressed female student cried out, according to one of the barmen at Bohemia, who added that the girl had been pawed by the police.
Asthmatics and diabetics told how they had been prevented by the police from seeking medical treatment.
Jan Oberholzer, co-owner of Bohemia, said that there were holes in the ceiling of the establishment which were "seemingly bullet holes".
The video material clearly shows shots being fired as the police storm in.
Threatened with shotguns
Sinyangana said no shots had been fired.
Eyewitnesses said that the police had guns - including shotguns - with them at all times and that these were used to threaten, push and even hit students.
Although the police later said that the weapons had not been loaded, a cartridge was removed from the street outside the Springbok Pub after a policeman reloaded his weapon and the cartridge fell out.
Willem Coertzen, owner of Mystic Boer, who had been handcuffed and reportedly knocked in the face with a gun, said that the police had done the same sort of thing last year and had got away with it.
"The difference is that we have video evidence this time."
A law student, Gillian Armstrong, said she had been beaten, sprayed with pepper spray and thrown to the ground.
Woman pulled by her hair
Eyewitnesses told how a female student had been hit by a police officer because she had been "in his way".
A shocked woman, who only identified herself as Adel, told how she was slapped and beaten several times by a police officer.
Eyewitnesses told how a woman was pulled across the street by her hair.
After the police realised that photos and videos had been captured on cellphones, they tried to force the students to destroy the evidence by threatening them that they would be detained.