The National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, General Khehla John Sitole, has welcomed the arrest on 21 February of suspects believed to have been involved in cases of robbery of people being followed from the O. R. Tambo International Airport and praised members for their sterling work.
This morning, members from the National Investigation Unit (NINU) together with members of O. R. Tambo International Airport and the SAPS Flying Squad, acting on intelligence, arrested four men in Alexandra Township outside Johannesburg. The suspects were allegedly planning a robbery when our team pounced on them as they were changing the number plates on their sedan. However, three suspects managed to flee, initiating a high speed chase and a shootout between the suspects and the police. The suspect’s vehicle swerved off the road, crashing to a halt.
Four suspects were arrested of which one was shot and wounded. Our team also recovered at least two handguns. The National Commissioner, in praising the SAPS team for this significant success said, “I am very pleased with the progress we are making to significantly reduce this category of crime but more importantly I am equally pleased that our proactive strategy is yielding positive results”.
These suspects are believed to have been involved in multiple cases of people being followed from the OR Tambo Airport and robbed. The firearms will be sent for ballistic testing to determine if they have been used in the commission of crimes.
“We appeal to anyone who may have any information on crime are requested to please contact our Crime Stop number 086 00 10111. All callers may remain anonymous and all information will be treated with strictest confidence,” the police said in a statement.
The new municipal judge in Ferguson has recalled all arrest warrants issued before 2015. The decision gives many residents of the troubled Missouri city a fresh start, just days before a court reform law is to take effect.
Issued by Ferguson Municipal Court Judge Donald McCullin, the order applies to all arrest warrants prior to December 31, 2014, whether for minor traffic violations or more serious offenses. Close to 10,000 warrants are affected by the decision, municipal prosecutor Stephanie Karr told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“These changes should continue the process of restoring confidence in the court, alleviating fears of the consequences of appearing in court, and giving many residents a fresh start,” said McCullin, who was appointed to the post in June. His predecessor, Ronald Brockmeyer, resigned in March following a scathing Department of Justice report accused Ferguson of unconstitutional practices and racial profiling.
Voiding the warrants does not get rid of the charges for the original violations, however. To resolve those, defendants will be given new court dates as well as options to pay their fines, from payment plans to community service, Judge McCullin said. In addition, the Missouri Department of Revenue said it would reinstate drivers’ licenses suspended solely due to unpaid fines or failure to appear in court.
“It is meaningful and will have a real impact on the lives of many,” Brendan Roediger, a St. Louis-area lawyer who has represented some of the protesters in Ferguson, told Reuters. “That being said, payment plans and community service do not solve racial profiling or excessive fines.”
McCullin set out the new bond rules for both minor and major violations, with minor traffic and housing code violations requiring an unsecured bond of $200. The bond for more serious traffic violations, trespassing or marijuana possession will be $300.
Last week, the municipal judge in nearby Velda City, Wesley Bell, canceled more than 5,000 warrants and all of the city’s failure-to-appear charges. Velda City has a population of 1,410.
Judicial practices in Ferguson and the St. Louis County came under the spotlight after the August 2014 death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager shot by Ferguson PD officer Darren Wilson during an altercation.
While the US Department of Justice cleared Wilson of all charges, it issued a 102-page report in March 2015 accusing the city authorities of systemic racism against the town’s African-American community. The report accused Ferguson police and the courts of deliberately targeting black residents for citations, arrests and charge.
Two blacks are expected to appear in the Brits Magistrate’s Court today on charges of possession of explosives.
North West police spokesperson, Paul Ramoloko, says the suspects were arrested at a petrol station in Bapong village on Thursday with 40 explosives and 73 detonators in their possession. The suspects are aged 33 and 43.
Ramoloko says one of the suspects admitted to police that there were more explosives at his home. Upon further investigation, police found an additional 20 explosives and 53 detonators at the house.
The 43-year-old suspect is allegedly an employee at Lonmin mine.
On Thursday, 9 January 2014 members of the Durban Flying Squad Narcotics Task Team brought down another two drug dealers in the Durban area. The two were arrested in two separate busts in different suburbs and police seized rock cocaine, ecstasy and dagga from both men to the street value of more than R46 500-00. They are expected to appear in court soon.
At 13:15 the members were patrolling at Seaview area in Bellair when they followed up information about drugs in the area. The members proceeded to Bridge road where they searched a house and found rock cocaine and 600 ecstasy tablets to the street value of more than R44 000. The suspect (37) was immediately arrested and detained for possession of drugs.
After officers from the Narcotics Task Team had completed their duties at Montclair they proceeded to Westcliff area in Chatsworth. At 16:30 they searched another house at Domino street, Westcliff and recovered 512 grams of dagga. The suspect(44) was also arrested and detained on charges of possession of drugs. The value of the drugs seized is estimated at R2 500-00.
The Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni congratulated the Narcotics Task Team for the arrest of these notorious drug dealers. “I am pleased that the Flying Squad Narcotics Task Team has once again proved that reports in certain media that we are not serious about dealing with drug peddlers was rash and unfounded. We have the most committed individuals that are in the forefront of the fight against drugs and their results have been consistent over the years. In the absence of any interventions by other role-players, police still remain committed to fighting this battle” she said. – SA Police Media Service
Dundee police and Glencoe K9 members arrested four suspects for business robbery in the Dundee CBD and recovered firearms, stolen cash as well as the getaway vehicle in Newcastle. On 17 December 2013 at 09:15 employees of a retail clothing store were allegedly accosted at gunpoint by four armed unknown men who demanded cash and robbed them of an undisclosed amount of cash at gunpoint. The suspects fled in their getaway vehicle which was parked outside the store. No shots were fired and no person was injured during the robbery.
After an initial investigation police proceeded to Newcastle where they arrested four suspects between the ages of 30 and 48 and recovered some of the money that was allegedly stolen. Three firearms, two 9mm pistols and a revolver were seized and the motor vehicle that was allegedly used during the commission of crime was also seized. All four suspects will be charged for business robbery, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition as well as possession of suspected stolen property. They will appear in Dundee Magistrates Court soon. The firearms will be sent to ballistics to ascertain whether they were used in the commission of any other crime in the country.
KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni commended the members for arresting theses criminals and for the seizure of illegal firearms. “We are committed to eradicating criminal activities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal and confident that the impact of these arrests will result in the reduction of the serious and violent crimes during the festive season,” she said. – SA Police media release
A Congolese couple was arrested in Springs, on the East Rand, on Tuesday for possession of explosives and detonators worth about R1.5 million, the Hawks said.
“These devices are normally used during ATM bombings and illegal mining,” Hawks spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloko said.
“The team also confiscated gold concentrates, platinum concentrates, pyrobor chemicals as well as mercury and smelting apparatus,” he said.
The two would appear in the Springs Magistrate’s Court on Friday. – Sapa
Three men have been arrested in Zeerust in connection with murder and house robbery, North West police said on Wednesday.
Two men were arrested last month and one took the police to where the stolen items were, said Colonel Sabata Mokgwabone.
“The men took the police to a bush at Ikageng township and police dug out a plastic which contained three pistols, three rifles and rifle ammunition,” said Mokgwabone.
Police also found a silencer, a set of binoculars and an empty magazine.
Mokgwabone said the discovery of the firearms led police to arrest the third suspect on Tuesday.
“The third suspect took the police to the bushes where five firearms and four rifles were recovered.”
Mokgwabone said it was discovered that three firearms belonged to a farmer who was attacked in April.
“Police were further taken to Dinokana village in Lehurutshe where they found a hunting rifle with empty magazine dumped in the bush.” – Sapa
Arrested: Nikos Michaloliakos, the leader of Golden Dawn
by Hélène COLLIOPOULOU
Greek police on Saturday swooped on the Golden Dawn party, arresting its leadership and hunting for dozens of members across the country in a crackdown sparked by the murder of a leftist musician.
The arrests came a day after Golden Dawn threatened to pull its lawmakers out of parliament, a move that could spark a political crisis in the recession-hit country.
The party urged its followers to demonstrate against what it called an “illegal decision” on Saturday and by late morning several hundred faithful had gathered in front police headquarters in Athens.
In dawn raids, Greek anti-terror police arrested party leader Nikos Michaloliakos along with party spokesman and MP Ilias Kassidiairis, two other lawmakers and a dozen party members, police said.
The charges against them ranged from belonging to a “criminal organisation” to murder and assault, according to a source in the justice ministry.
The police sweep came after the country’s supreme court, which has been charged with investigating the group, issued arrest warrants for some 30 members.
Golden Dawn has faced a crackdown after a self-confessed neo-Nazi fatally stabbed popular hip-hop musician Pavlos Fyssas, 34, on September 18, a killing that sparked nationwide protests.
The party currently has 18 lawmakers in parliament and prior to the murder was the third most popular political grouping in the country.
“This government is determined not to allow the descendants of the Nazis to poison our social life, to commit crimes, terrorise and undermine the foundations of the country that gave birth to democracy,” Prime Minister Antonis Samaras warned in a televised address a day after the killing.
Golden Dawn leader Michaloliakos has threatened to pull the group’s deputies out of parliament, a move that would prompt by-elections in 15 regions around the country.
“We will exhaust any means within our legal constitutional rights to defend our political honour,” Michaloliakos told reporters late on Thursday.
“If the country enters a cycle of instability, it is those who demonise Golden Dawn who will be responsible, not (us),” he said.
By-elections could hurt Samaras’s coalition government, which has a slim majority of 155 MPs in the 300-seat parliament, and could cast into doubt Greece’s ability to fulfil its obligations to creditors on multi-billion-euro bailouts.
Samaras’s conservative party is neck-and-neck in the polls with the radical leftist Syriza party that opposes Greece’s EU-IMF austerity bailout, and a strong showing by Syriza in by-elections could lead to the government’s fall.
Formerly on the fringe of Greek politics, Golden Dawn’s popularity has skyrocketed as it tapped into widespread anger over unpopular reforms in a country that is currently slogging through its sixth year of recession and where unemployment among the youth stands at a staggering 60 percent.
It went from 19,000 votes a few years ago to over 426,000 in June 2012 elections after pledging to “scour the country” clean of illegal immigrants.
The party, whose leader has denied the Holocaust, has sent black-clad squads to smash market stalls owned by migrants, held torch-lit rallies lambasting political opponents as “traitors” and “thieves”, and organised food donations exclusively for ethnic Greeks.
It has also been blamed for a series of brutal attacks on migrants and political opponents, though it strenuously denies any responsibility and claims to be the victim of slander.
This year, the party has consistently polled at over 10 percent, with its approval ratings even higher in the 18-44 age group, making them the country’s third-strongest political force.
Although the hip-hop artist’s murder has led to a dip in those ratings, analysts warn that the party’s popularity will make any efforts to outlaw it difficult and politically dangerous.
“The constitution makes no provision for the dissolution of a parliamentary group, even it there is proof that it is a criminal organisation,” Dimitris Christopoulos, an associate professor of law at Athens’ Panteion University, told AFP this week. – AFP
A former Soweto police reservist accused of promising people jobs in exchange for money has been arrested, Gauteng police said on Wednesday.
The 39-year-old man was taken into custody on Tuesday night after one of the people who paid him R5000 opened a case, said Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela.
“He recruited unemployed people promising them jobs in the SA Police Service,” he said.
The man who reported him to police had paid him R5000 as a “recruitment fee”.
He would appear in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Thursday on charges of theft under false pretences, said Makhubela. – Sapa
Egypt’s military-backed rulers are pressing on in their crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood with the arrest early Tuesday of the group’s spiritual leader who had been in hiding near the huge sit-in in support of the country’s ousted Islamist president, which security forces violently dispersed a week ago, leaving hundreds dead.
The arrest of Mohammed Badie – the supreme leader of the Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which ousted president Mohammed Morsi hails -followed a chaotic day of bloodshed that saw 25 policemen killed in a militant ambush in Sinai and a court ruling announcing the possibility that the jailed ex-president Hosni Mubarak could walk free later this week.
Mubarak’s release could fuel the unrest roiling the country after Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president and the autocratic Mubarak’s successor, was removed in a military coup on July 3.
Underscoring the growing anger over Morsi’s ouster, suspected Islamic militants on Monday ambushed two minibuses carrying off-duty policemen in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, forcing the men to lie on the sand and shooting 25 of them dead.
The brazen daylight attack raised fears that the strategic desert region bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip could be plunged into a full-fledged insurgency.
Badie was captured early Tuesday in an apartment in the eastern Cairo district of Nasr City, according to security officials and state television, very close to where Morsi’s supporters held a six-week sit-in protest that was cleared by security forces last Wednesday.
The private ONTV network showed footage of a man the network said was Badie after his arrest. In the footage, a somber looking Badie in an off-white Arab robe, or galabiyah, sits motionless on a sofa as a man in civilian clothes and carrying an assault rifle stands nearby.
Badie and his powerful deputy Khairat el-Shater, who is in custody, go on trial later this month for their alleged role in the killing of eight protesters outside the Brotherhood’s Cairo headquarters in June. His arrest is a serious blow to the group at a time when authorities are cracking down on its leaders and mid-ranking officials, detaining scores of them across the country.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Late Monday, the 25 slain police officers were given a funeral with full military honors. The men’s coffins, draped in red, white and black Egyptian flags, were jointly carried by army soldiers and policemen, and Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour declared a nationwide state of mourning to mark their deaths.
Mubarak, 85, has been in detention since April 2011, two months after he was ousted in a revolution against his rule.
He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison last year for failing to stop the killing of some 900 protesters in the 18-day uprising. His sentence was overturned on appeal and he is now being retried, along with his security chief and six top police commanders.
Two judicial officials said Mubarak could walk free this week or next after a criminal court on Monday ordered his release in a corruption case in which he and his two sons were accused of embezzling funds for the maintenance of presidential palaces. His sons were ordered kept in custody.
Monday’s ruling, along with the fact that Mubarak had previously been ordered released in the killings of the protesters opened the possibility of freedom for the former president, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
There will no longer be any grounds to hold him if a court accepts a petition by his lawyer requesting his release in a third case later this week or next.
But freeing Mubarak, widely hated for widespread abuses and repression during his 29 years in power, during one of the worst bouts of turmoil since his ouster would be a huge risk for the military-backed government.
It could lend credibility to allegations that the mass protests that preceded the July 3 coup that toppled Morsi were the work of Mubarak-era figures searching for a way to reinstate the former regime.
Last week, the military raided two protest camps of Morsi’s supporters in Cairo, killing hundreds of people and triggering a wave of violence that has left at least 1,000 people dead.
Human Rights Watch, in a report Monday, accused Egyptian security forces of using excessive force when they moved to clear the larger of the two camps. The New York-based group said the assault amounted to the “most serious incident of mass unlawful killings in modern Egyptian history.”
It called on authorities to reverse a recent decision authorizing the use of deadly force by security forces when they come under attack or when key government facilities are assaulted.
The Sinai Peninsula has long been wracked by violence by al-Qaida-linked fighters, some who consider Morsi’s Brotherhood to be too moderate, and tribesmen who have used the area for smuggling and other criminal activity. Attacks, especially those targeting security forces, have been on the rise since Morsi’s ouster.
Monday’s attack targeting the police officers took place near the border town of Rafah in northern Sinai. A few hours later, militants shot to death a senior police officer as he stood guard outside a bank in el-Arish, another city in the largely lawless area, security officials said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack. The United States condemned the slaying of the police officers and repeated its commitment to help Egypt combat terrorism in Sinai. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also denounced the attack.
The Sinai attack came a day after security forces killed 36 detainees during a riot on a prison-bound truck convoy north of Cairo. The killings came as police fired tear gas to free a guard who was trapped in the melee, security officials said.
The government ordered an inquiry into the deaths, which it blamed on armed men allegedly trying to help the 600 Muslim Brotherhood detainees escape. It gave no details.
The Brotherhood blamed military chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, and the interior minister for Sunday’s killings. The group also called for an international inquiry into the deaths.
The United States said it was troubled by the “suspicious deaths” of the prisoners.
“We call on all Egypt’s leaders and the international community to condemn such attacks without equivocation,” said Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman.
Amnesty International demanded a “full, impartial and effective” probe into the events.
Morsi has been held in an undisclosed location since his ouster. On Monday, prosecutors ordered his detention for 15 days in connection with allegations that he conspired to kill and torture protesters during mass demonstrations by the opposition outside his presidential palace in December 2012. – AP
A man will appear in the Ceres Magistrate’s Court on Thursday in connection with the rape of a four-month-old baby and seven-year-old boy, Western Cape police said.
Lt-Col Andre Traut said the 25-year-old man, a local farmworker, was arrested on Wednesday.
“Crimes against children are regarded our top priority, and we will not relax any of our efforts when a suspect in this regard is sought,” he said.
“We are pleased with the outcome of our investigations so far and would like to extend our appreciation to the Ceres community who assisted us during the recent weeks.”
The baby had been sleeping in bed with her parents when a man snatched and raped her on August 3, provincial police commissioner Arno Lamoer said at the time.
A boy in the same house was also raped.
On Tuesday, the ANC Women’s League said the baby was recovering from her fourth reconstructive surgery operation.
“The rape of these children is not only disheartening, but a horrendous and inhumane act that should be condemned unrelentingly and consistently by all in society,” ANCWL spokeswoman Nosipho Ntwanambi said.
Ntwanambi said the league would continue organising protests calling for men who committed sexual offences to be removed from society.
A 32-year-old man was arrested previously, but released because he could not be linked to the case. – Sapa
An alleged kingpin operating in counterfeit goods in the West Rand was arrested in Westonaria on Saturday morning, Gauteng police said.
“Police arrested 15 suspects and recovered goods with a street value of R10 million in the early hours of Saturday morning,” spokeswoman Captain Julia Claassen said.
She said the arrest followed a crime intelligence operation by the police in the Bekkersdal informal settlement.
“Seven properties were searched and police recovered illicit cigarettes and a range of counterfeit goods ranging from designer clothes, bags and sunglasses. Police also seized cash to the value of over R160,000.”
The man, 34, and his 24-year-old wife were amongst those arrested and were charged under the tobacco controls act and the Counterfeit Goods Act.
Thirteen other men were arrested and charged under the illegal immigrants act.
All 15 are Mozambican and are expected to appear in court soon, said Claassen. – Sapa
North West police were still searching on Tuesday for the killers of former world heavyweight boxing champion Corrie Sanders.
“No arrests have been made. Police are busy investigating the case,” Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said.
The 46-year-old Sanders was at the Thatch Haven Country Lodge, in Brits, on Saturday celebrating his nephew’s 21st birthday when armed men arrived and randomly fired shots.
Sanders, who was shot in the hand and stomach, died at the Kalafong hospital on Sunday.
The gunmen apparently took several personal belongings from restaurant patrons.
Sanders, who was nicknamed ‘The Sniper’ in his fighting days, was one of South Africa’s most successful boxers on the global stage.
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He won the WBO title and held his own against some of the most respected boxers in the world.
The heavyweight southpaw, who was trained by Harold Volbrecht, fought 46 times in his career, losing only four bouts. – Sapa
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