NPA fears Louka will be released

2012-04-23 22:37

Johannesburg - An application for George Louka’s extradition from Cyprus was postponed on Monday.

Louka was accused of killing strip club boss Lolly Jackson in May 2010.

The matter would resume on April 27 because South African authorities had not yet submitted the papers for extradition, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said.

"We had hoped that the papers would be submitted by today and an application would have been moved on our behalf. We were shocked when we learnt that they were not submitted," said NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga.

The NPA was still trying to find out what the problem was and why the papers had not been submitted.

"We are fearing if we don't submit papers by Friday then Louka will be released. It will be a sad day if that happens."

Earlier this month, Mhaga said the extradition application was submitted even before Louka's arrest.

He said the NPA had opted for the European submission route because South Africa did not have a bilateral extradition treaty with Cyprus.

In addition to the 2010 murder of Jackson, who owned the Teazers strip club franchise, Louka was wanted for theft, possession of suspected stolen property, and fraud.

Louka allegedly phoned Gauteng crime intelligence boss Joey Mabasa and confessed to killing Jackson shortly after the murder on 3 May 2010.

He told the Sunday Times in a recent interview that he wanted to talk to the SA Police Service, but doubted whether he would get a fair trial.

- SAPA