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Krejcir, co-accused back in court

Johannesburg - The trial of Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir and five others is expected to continue in the High Court in Johannesburg, sitting in Palm Ridge, on Wednesday.

On Monday, the court heard that police tried to hide the assault of one of Krejcir's co-accused, Desai Luphondo.

Annelene van den Heever, for Krejcir and Luphondo, said the police had deliberately kept a page from them that came from the police station's occurrence book.

The entry stated that Luphondo had complained of being assaulted by police as they arrested him on 22 November 2013. The entry was made on the morning after the arrest.

Captain Bongani Nicholas Gininda gave evidence in a trial-within-a-trial aimed at establishing whether Luphondo had been assaulted into a confession.

Gininda, who has 20 years' experience as a police officer, took down Luphondo's confession several hours after he had allegedly reported the assault.

He told the court that he did not know of any assault on Luphondo.

Krejcir, Luphondo, Warrant Officers Samuel "Saddam" Maropeng and George Nthoroane, Jan Lefu Mofokeng, and Siboniso Miya face charges of kidnapping, attempted murder and dealing in drugs.

They allegedly recruited a man known as Doctor Nkosi to help smuggle 25kg of tik (methamphetamine) to Australia.

Nkosi worked for a cargo company at OR Tambo International Airport, and allegedly disappeared with the shipment.

Krejcir and his co-accused allegedly then kidnapped and tortured his brother, Bheki Lukhele, in a bid to have him reveal his sibling's whereabouts.

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