Pretoria – About 11 years after fleeing South Africa, Dirk Prinsloo, a suspect in a child sex case, is heading home – this time in all probability shackled and accompanied by Interpol officials.
Prinsloo has been eligible for parole since February 19 after he was sentenced to 13 years in prison in Belarus in February 2010 for theft, robbery and "thuggery", Netwerk24 reported.
Nelson Kgwete, spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Co-operation, confirmed that South Africa is in contact with authorities in Moscow, Russia and Minsk.
A decision has to be taken on whether Prinsloo will be deported or extradited.
Deporting him would be cheaper, but he wouldn't be escorted by Interpol officials. Prinsloo had entered Belarus illegally via Russia.
However, there is no direct flight between Belarus and South Africa and there are fears that he might escape while waiting for a connecting flight.
Re-arrest easier in extradition
If Prinsloo were to be extradited he would be shackled in the prison in Mogilev and taken directly to the airport, accompanied by members of Interpol.
From there, their South African counterparts would board the plane with Prinsloo.
As soon as they land in South Africa, he would be re-arrested on a warrant issued by the High Court in Pretoria in 2006. He would be held until he appeared in court where his trial would be restarted.
Prinsloo and his partner at the time, Cézanne Visser, were arrested in 2002 on charges of, among others, fraud, rape, indecent assault and the manufacturing of child pornography.
The charges were later dropped, but the case was re-opened the following year and they were freed on R4 000 bail each.
The trial of the two advocates started in January 2005 in the High Court in Pretoria, where both denied guilt.
Visser was nicknamed "Advocate Barbie" by the media because of her physical appearance.
Caged in court
In November 2005, Prinsloo informed the court that he would be spending Christmas in Russia. It would have been his second visit that year. Because he wasn't considered a flight risk, the trial was postponed to April 2006.
However, he never returned to South Africa and a warrant for his arrest was issued. Interpol was also roped in to help search for him.
He was arrested in Belarus in June 2009, after trying to rob a bank in the small town of Baranovichi.
He appeared in court in Baranovichi on January 11, 2010, charged with theft, bank robbery, thuggery, "torture" and threatening to kill an ex-girlfriend.
Because he was considered a dangerous criminal, he appeared in court in a cage.
Visser meanwhile was found guilty on 11 charges in February 2010 and sentenced to seven years behind bars. She was released on parole in August 2013.
Both she and Prinsloo have been struck off the roll of advocates.
