Africa-Press – South-Africa. Johannesburg – Carl Niehaus says he will not be intimidated with jail time in his case, where he is being tried for allegedly contravening Covid-19 regulations.
The State is likely to ask that Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) spokesperson Carl Niehaus be sentenced to six months’ imprisonment without a fine.
Niehaus was arrested in July last year for contravening the Disaster Management Act when he was found to have travelled outside the province where he lives.
He had descended to the Estcourt Correctional Services centre where former president Jacob Zuma was being held in custody after he had been sent to jail through an order of the Constitutional Court.
Niehaus appeared at the Estcourt Magistrate’s Court on Monday but the case was adjourned after Niehaus’s legal representatives asked for a postponement.
On Thursday, Niehaus told IOL that he was aware of the state’s intentions to have him behind bars.
“The state and whoever politicians behind the trumped-up Covid-19 charges are hell-bent to get me into jail. No matter how hard these people try, I will not be intimidated nor silenced,” he said.
Niehaus shared a two-page charge sheet obtained from his attorneys which carried a possible sentence.
According to the charge sheet, count 1 states: “The accused is guilty of the offence of contravening Regulation 31 (1)(a) read with regulations 1, 2, 4, 5, 15, 21 and table 1 of the adjusted alert level 4 of the disaster management regulations published under GN No. R. in GG No 44772 of 27 June 2021.”
It further says: “In that on 8 July 2021 at or near Estcourt Correctional Service in the district of Estcourt the accused, unlawfully and intentionally convened a gathering of supporters for the purpose of showing support for a political figure (former president Jacob Zuma) who had been incarcerated at the prison and which gathering is not for purpose of a funeral or at a workplace or for purpose of buying goods and services.
“Penalty, liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment or a maximum fine of R20 000,” read the charge sheet.
Niehaus said everyone had seen that he had been arrested while he was doing a live television interview.
“I was not addressing any gathering of people, it is clearly an intention to deal with this matter politically and factionally. They are using the Covid-19 charges as a political attack tool because they want to attack me for my political convictions.
“My legal team is clear that there is absolutely no case, in fact, this is an abuse of the Covid-19 regulations and we are going to present our case in detail in court,” Niehaus added.
He maintained that this was a very serious situation for him and others who have been persecuted in a similar fashion.
“What we see here is a continuation of the abuse of the legal system by those who are currently in power, specifically by the clique around President Cyril Ramaphosa, and it is being used to protect him and at the same time to attack and destroy those who didn’t agree with him. I am not going to accept this,” Niehaus said.
He added that he will not be silenced, or intimidated and this is a fight to make sure that the ANC remains a revolutionary movement.
National Prosecuting Authority KZN spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara confirmed that the charge sheet furnished by Niehaus’s legal team was authentic.
Political Bureau
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