Convicted AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo has asked the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services to reopen his trial‚ the department said on Wednesday.
The ministry confirmed that it had received a petition from Yasmin Omar‚ an attorney representing Dalindyebo‚ requesting Justice Minister Michael Masutha to direct that the trial of the monarch be reopened in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act.
“The minister is currently considering the petition and will respond as soon as all the necessary assessment has been done‚” the department said in a statement.
The law provides for a petition to be submitted to the minister when a person has exhausted all legal avenues and has been unsuccessful in the country’s courts.
It is‚ however‚ only applicable if there is new evidence that has since surfaced that might affect a conviction.
The king’s last attempt to fight his criminal convictions and sentence failed when he Constitutional Court dismissed his application for leave to appeal to that court on December 2.
According to his bail conditions which become an order of court‚ he is expected to present himself to the head of Mthatha Correctional Centre within 14 days of the dismissal of his application by the Constitutional Court.
This ends on Wednesday.
The Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA in the Eastern Cape has also reportedly said it plans to petition President Jacon Zuma for clemency or preferential treatment for Dalindyebo during his incarceration.
Dalindyebo was found guilty in 2009 in the Eastern Cape High Court in Mthatha on three charges of arson‚ three of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm‚ two of defeating the ends of justice‚ one of culpable homicide and one of kidnapping.
He was sentenced to an effective 15 years in prison but appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
On October 1‚ the SCA set aside Dalindyebo’s culpable homicide conviction but confirmed the rest of the guilty verdicts and changed his sentence to an effective 12 years in prison.
The charges all related to mistreatment of Dalindyebo’s subjects between 1995 and 1996 on a farm he owned near Mthatha in the Eastern Cape.
Dalindyebo set fire to the houses of three tenants to evict them because he believed they had breached tribal rules. He also publicly brutally assaulted three young men for allegedly committing crimes.
A fourth man who was suspected of having been party to the alleged crimes‚ was killed by members of the community and the prosecution contended this was on Dalindyebo’s instructions but the SCA was ultimately not convinced that the king was guilty of culpable homicide for the man’s death.
King Dalindyebo asks for reopening of his trial
The ministry confirmed that it had received a petition from Yasmin Omar‚ an attorney representing Dalindyebo‚ requesting Justice Minister Michael Masutha to direct that the trial of the monarch be reopened in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act.
“The minister is currently considering the petition and will respond as soon as all the necessary assessment has been done‚” the department said in a statement.
The law provides for a petition to be submitted to the minister when a person has exhausted all legal avenues and has been unsuccessful in the country’s courts.
It is‚ however‚ only applicable if there is new evidence that has since surfaced that might affect a conviction.
The king’s last attempt to fight his criminal convictions and sentence failed when he Constitutional Court dismissed his application for leave to appeal to that court on December 2.
According to his bail conditions which become an order of court‚ he is expected to present himself to the head of Mthatha Correctional Centre within 14 days of the dismissal of his application by the Constitutional Court.
This ends on Wednesday.
The Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA in the Eastern Cape has also reportedly said it plans to petition President Jacon Zuma for clemency or preferential treatment for Dalindyebo during his incarceration.
Dalindyebo was found guilty in 2009 in the Eastern Cape High Court in Mthatha on three charges of arson‚ three of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm‚ two of defeating the ends of justice‚ one of culpable homicide and one of kidnapping.
He was sentenced to an effective 15 years in prison but appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
On October 1‚ the SCA set aside Dalindyebo’s culpable homicide conviction but confirmed the rest of the guilty verdicts and changed his sentence to an effective 12 years in prison.
The charges all related to mistreatment of Dalindyebo’s subjects between 1995 and 1996 on a farm he owned near Mthatha in the Eastern Cape.
Dalindyebo set fire to the houses of three tenants to evict them because he believed they had breached tribal rules. He also publicly brutally assaulted three young men for allegedly committing crimes.
A fourth man who was suspected of having been party to the alleged crimes‚ was killed by members of the community and the prosecution contended this was on Dalindyebo’s instructions but the SCA was ultimately not convinced that the king was guilty of culpable homicide for the man’s death.
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