Legal coalition tells state to ‘back off’
TOP Johannesburg criminal attorney Ian Small-Smith was one of about 15 lawyers who gave their services without charge to secure the release from prison of 245 refugees yesterday.
Small-Smith — who has represented shady underworld bouncers, former ANC spokesman Carl Niehaus and Scorpions prosecutor Gerrie Nel — appeared in court for the embattled group, consisting mainly of Zimbabweans.
The men were arrested on Friday for loitering outside the Central Methodist Mission and the South Gauteng High Court in the Johannesburg CBD .
Now Lawyers for Human Rights head Jacob van Garderen is demanding an undertaking from the SAPS, the Johannesburg metro police and the MEC for community safety, Khabisi Mosunkutu, that they will not conduct similar operations in future.
If they do not comply, “we will be forced to interdict them”, Van Garderen said.
Small-Smith did not hesitate when he was approached by Lawyers for Human Rights to help represent the group:“It was the least I could do,” he said.
About 300 people sleeping outside the church and the high court were pounced on at 11.30pm on Friday by about 100 police officers.
Women and teenagers were released on a warning, but the 245 men remained in custody.
They were released when prosecutors, after the intervention of Small-Smith and his colleagues, unconditionally withdrew the charges against them of loitering, indecency and public disorder.
Small-Smith was joined by lawyers from the Aids Law Project, Lawyers for Human Rights and the Legal Resources Centre.
Jason Brickhill, of the Legal Resources Centre, said the prosecutors had adopted “a reasonable attitude” and were trying to arrange accommodation for the refugees.
Bishop Paul Verryn said there were vacant buildings in the CBD that could be used to house those camping outside his church.
Metro police spokesman Wayne Minnaar said the group’s arrest was prompted by complaints by high court employees and city centre businessmen of criminal activity in the area, including muggings .
He said film shot by security cameras showed pedestrians being robbed of cellphones, cash and jewellery by people pretending to be sleeping on the pavement.
Minnaar said that the police’s “clean- up” operation would be intensified in the run-up to the soccer World Cup next year.
Verryn said the police were harassing the refugees. He said that two months ago they took blankets and clothes from those sleeping outside the church, and three weeks ago a security company employee “sprayed foul water over the people”.