Prinsloo kicked out of court
2010-01-13 22:36
Julian Rademeyer en Lyudmilla Prokopova
Johannesburg - An upset Dirk Prinsloo was removed from the court on Wednesday after five hours of testimony in his trial in Belarus, when the judge lost his temper with the South African.
Judge Vasiliy Petriv was not impressed with the alleged child sex criminal's repeated outbursts and "irrelevant questions".
Prinsloo is facing several charges of assault, torture, theft, thuggery and attempted bank robbery.
Petriv found that Prinsloo was "systematically disrupting the court proceedings" and that he had repeatedly made himself guilty of contempt of court.
Prinsloo shocked
The judge has instructed that Prinsloo may not appear in the Baranovichi district court again until all witnesses and "victims" have finished testifying.
A shocked Prinsloo was cuffed by police officials and taken away.
The drama occurred while testimony was being given about Prinsloo's alleged involvement in a failed attempt at a bank robbery in Baranovichi on June 10 last year.
Prinsloo was arrested two days later in an internet cafe in Minsk, the Belarusian capital.
Witnesses cried
Some of the cashiers who were present when Prinsloo, wearing a balaclava, stormed into the bank with a toy gun and a knife cried while testifying on Wednesday.
Prinsloo apologised for his behaviour to one of the women who was assaulted during the attempted robbery.
His repeated interruptions while Petriv was questioning the witnesses, lead to his removal from the courtroom.
Earlier the court had heard how Prinsloo allegedly regularly assaulted one of his former mistresses, Anastasia Gomza, between June and December 2008. In one instance her nose was apparently broken and her lips cut.
Gomza apparently met Prinsloo in a cafe in Minsk in April 2008. He introduced himself as "Michael Grant" - a businessman from Australia.
According to her, she only knew him as Grant.
"I took his threats seriously," Gomza testified according to the Pretoria News.
"I'm sure that, if he gets out of jail, I won't live for very long. He said he'll make my face ugly and cut my body until I die.
"He also said he will kill my whole family. I took the threats seriously because he killed my dog."
Dirk was a 'god'
Dirk made her his "slave" and he was her "god", she testified.
Prinsloo denied her allegations, and according to the newspaper, he said that Gomza had his real name tattooed on her body, and also used his photo on the Interpol website to have his face tattooed on her stomach.
He also said that the wounds on the photos which he took of her were actually made with beetroot, since Gomza wanted to make a "vampire music album".
He also said that they made several videos and took photos while they were having sex.
After one assault, Prinsloo allegedly told Gomza that she would "look good with silicone lips and breasts".
A 'brilliant cross-examiner'
It was during Prinsloo's questioning of Gomza on Tuesday that Petriv started to lose his temper.
Prinsloo said that he was considered a "brilliant cross-examiner" in South Africa.
"I am being thwarted by you," he told Petriv.
Petriv reacted: "I have absolutely no interest in whatever kind of expert you were in South Africa, now you are in Belarus!"
Later, Prinsloo said: "I don't want to be part of the trial anymore. It's clear that I'm not getting a fair trial."
The case continues.
