The State has accused the lawyer representing suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner for Crime Detection, Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, of helping his client avoid arrest.
Sibiya’s bail application on charges including rape, sexual grooming of a 16-year-old and human trafficking continued in the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Prosecutor Velile Makasana put the allegation to Sibiya’s lawyer, Rashad Moosa, who took the witness stand in his client’s defence.
Makasana questioned Moosa about whether his actions, while acting on Sibiya’s instructions, amounted to helping the suspended police general avoid arrest.
“You were seeking information, which was still under investigation, for the purpose of avoiding Mr Sibiya’s arrest,” Makasana put to Moosa.
He further questioned whether lawyers have a duty to ensure that, while carrying out their clients’ instructions, they do not breach the law.
Moosa’s legal team objected to the line of questioning.
Advocate Estelle Kilian argued that the State was repeatedly suggesting that Moosa had intended to help Sibiya evade arrest, while the witness had maintained that the objective was to avoid a public spectacle — not to flee from the law.
“The witness has repeatedly said, avoiding a spectacle, not running away from arrest, not running away from the law,” Kilian said.
She argued that the contents of the documents before court supported the defence’s version of events.
Sibiya has denied the allegations against him.
He is also facing a new charge relating to the alleged unlawful storage of a firearm.The bail application continues.
