Cape Town - An “ethical issue” has brought the trial of alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack to an abrupt halt in the Western Cape High Court.
The much-anticipated return of Modack and 14 other accused after weeks on hold during the court recess, left onlookers confused yesterday when court proceedings failed to begin.
Shortly before 10am, legal teams were called into the chambers of Judge Robert Henney, as rumours swirled in the courtroom about an alleged conflict of interest regarding legal fees of lawyers appointed for the trial.
After waiting several hours, the courtroom was informed that proceedings would only commence at 3pm, but shortly after 2pm, legal teams were called back to the building to appear before Judge Henney, along with the accused.
In the dock, several of Modack’s co-accused could be seen chatting in what appeared to be different groupings, while Modack was seen whispering to his younger brother, Yaseen.
To date, five legal representatives have been appointed to all 15 accused, of which only one is private counsel as the rest are being funded by Legal Aid SA.
Finally addressing the court yesterday, Judge Henney explained he had been approached by all the counsel in chambers to discuss an issue regarding a possible conflict of interest of one of the legal representatives in the matter.
The judge explained that the legal representative was advised to seek further legal advice and guidance from senior counsel regarding the trial.
“I am not at this stage going to go into detail about that. There is a request that this matter be postponed to Wednesday so that the attorney can take the necessary legal advice and report back to court and if necessary we will at a later stage place on regard what this whole ... is about. If the parties are happy then that is how we will deal with this at a later stage,” Judge Henney said.
Meanwhile, advocate Scanlyn Collins told the court that his client Riyaad Gesant was attacked by officials at Pollsmoor Prison during a search.
He said his client had blue marks on his face and was in immense pain.
Collins also highlighted that his client’s weight had dropped dramatically in recent weeks as Judge Henney ordered that he be held in the hospital section of the prison.
The case was postponed tomorrow.
mahira.duval@inl.co.za
Cape Argus