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Johannesburg - George Louka, the man accused of killing strip club franchise owner Lolly Jackson, will not be released from prison for what could be his final days, the South Gauteng High Court ruled on Wednesday.
''The application for the accused's release must be dismissed, said Judge Geraldine Borchers in the ruling handed down in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court, sitting as a high court.
The Department of Correctional Services brought an application on Monday in terms of Section 49 of the Correctional Services Act, which allows for terminally ill awaiting trial remand prisoners to be released for medical care.
Louka's lawyers told the court during the application that he is in the final stages of lung cancer and a doctor has also found growths in his throat, meaning he would eventually probably choke to death.
In a surprise testimony, Louka said he wanted to go to Cyprus to be with his family and promised to come back for his trial in September.
But Borchers would not grant this request.
''Any order I make for his release would have the effect of permanently preventing the State from prosecuting [him].
She did not believe he would come back after he had already slipped over the border to Mozambique following Jackson's murder, and had said he would only supply his secret address in Cyprus once he knew he was safe.
