AfriForum obtains victory over unfair lockdown arrests
22 July 2020
The State withdrew its charges against an accused in one of the cases against unfair lockdown arrests brought by AfriForum.
This follows AfriForum’s announcement on 1 June 2020 that it was undertaking two pilot cases in a bid to stop unfair arrests due to current lockdown regulations. In this specific case, a man was arrested after being pulled over by the SAPS. Although the man had the necessary permit on him, he was arrested on ivory-related charges because the police had found a pair of old kudu horns in the car’s boot.
The other case – about the arrest of a man because he didn’t have the receipt for buying his cigarettes – is on the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court’s role for 21 August 2020.
AfriForum undertook to make its legal team available to oppose criminal charges brought against the accused, as well as to help the accused thereafter in bringing civil claims against the law-enforcement authorities as a result of the unlawful arrests.