|
Liberia: Man Found Guilty of 'War Crimes' Was Granted SA Visa, Court Hears
[All Africa] A man, convicted of being an accessory to war crimes for selling weapons to former Liberian president  Charles ChuckTaylor The former President-for-Life of Liberia, of whom the best that could be said was that he wasn't quite as horrible as Prince Johnson, at least not usually. , was issued with a temporary visa to stay in South Africa until 2020. This emerged in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Friday during the appearance of 75-year-old Augustinus Petrus Kouwenhoven. Kouwenhoven was jugged Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! in Fresnaye at 08:00, ahead of his possible extradition and handover to Dutch authorities. He was surrounded by coppers as he walked to the courtroom and waited for his appearance. Prosecutor Christopher Burke told Magistrate Phakama Madinda that a Dutch court had found Kouwenhoven guilty of war crimes, arms trading and crimes against humanity. The Dutch government made a request for his provisional arrest, and warrants were obtained and executed in Cape Town on Friday morning. The prosecution indicated that it would oppose bail and said it needed time to prepare for a bail hearing. A runaway from justice "The State has reason to believe that Mr Kouwenhoven is a runaway from justice which makes him a flight risk," Burke said. The law usually allows a seven-day remand for bail to be obtained. Burke proposed a compromise that involved keeping the accused in the Sea Point police cells until Tuesday so that the State could gather the information they needed. Posted by: Fred 2017-12-09 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=503333 |