We demand DPP, DCEC back (Part II)

Kgosietsile Ngakaagae | Friday December 18, 2020 08:21

That does not count Police torture, which still exists. In fact, I know people, who have literally been hanged by the state on confessions extracted by suffocation through black refuse bags. Most, who receive such treatment, are from underprivileged sections of society. Law enforcement is content in the knowledge that they cannot litigate their rights and that the most they can ever get, is a poorly resourced and generally inexperienced pro deo attorney. And of course, law enforcement would generally deny all allegations of abuse because they are careful not to leave any visible injuries on the suspect.

When studying investigations, at some point during my career, we were taught on best practices. We were taught that an interview should generally be conducted by two officers, one interviewing and another recording. Best practice demands that law enforcement would have a video or audio record of such an interview, especially in serious cases. Here, interviews are often conducted by upwards of 10 law enforcement officers in a general lecture hall, each taking a turn at will when they think they have something useful to ask about. Of course, they are all on one side and the suspect is on the other. Suspects get threatened and physically abused. It is worth noting that this happens, generally, to suspects already in custody, with no legal or other help to call. There's sometimes no regard to whether the suspect has a had a fair amount of sleep, and whether he is interviewed hungry or fed. In the end, the result is a sham justice system, which generates ostensibly correct judicial outcomes that, unbeknownst to judges and magistrates, are in fact based on evidence of torture and improper interrogation, and evidence gathering practices. We know what happened in the Thebe case, and how a suspect died under the same conditions of which I speak. Examples abound. Being a legal practitioner, I would know.

My point is that we need to improve our law enforcement evidence gathering capabilities to ensure that they are in tandem with international best practices. Law enforcement doesn't need any protection from being filmed. In fact, they must film themselves in the public interest. That is in the interest of their personal safety, the integrity of investigations and the public interest.

Years back, before the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) became the hopeless, rogue, and politicised institution it is, they were professional. Some of you don't know that it has not always been this way. The institution has been invaded by a rogue army. Years back, the officers were proud to wear the DCEC badge, and saw themselves as a specialised and elite investigation unit, with a mandate of investigating priority crimes. They were right. They were so professional, it pleased us as prosecutors, and surprised us, as defence lawyers. I recall attending interviews with clients at the DCEC. The whole interview would be arranged ahead of time. Same would then be recorded and immediately after the interview, the lawyer would be given a copy of the recording. Today, the first thing you enter the interview room at the DCEC, they ask for your cellphone. 'Sheer cowardice,' one of them privately said this to me once, describing this change in institutional values. Once they denied me access to clients in their custody because they needed to harvest them before they could get legal help. Then they unashamedly denied it in writing when challenged. And guess what; when it happened I was with a wife to one of the suspects. That's how pitiable the situation is.

I can safely say that in spite all that, there were very few cases I prosecuted with them in their heyday that ended in an acquittal. Perhaps it was because we never took silly and malicious cases to court like it is the norm now. The conviction rate was high, not because the system was rigged, but because it was professional. Then came the rogue era, now prevailing. They marshalled and assembled men and women more intent on pleasing political masters and pursuing personal agendas of bitterness and personal jealousies than fighting crime. Make no mistake about it, there are innocent men and women among them.

Those who only want to do good. Sadly, such isn't the preferred. They are the Eugene Wasetso variety. They are flushed out to create room for perfect, dyed in the wool sycophants. The judgements continually flowing from the courts speak to the ethical and professional decay of two, once glorious institutions flourishing in their mandates; the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) division and the DCEC. I won't stop talking about that. They hate me for it, but I really can't be bothered. We need the DPP and the DCEC back from the policies and their deployees. We need them back serving the public according to their statutes. The rogues at the DPP and DCEC must not hold the nation at ransom. They must join politics and take their places in the party choirs where they belong. The recent judgements coming out of the courts call us, as a nation, to demand the DPP and DCEC institutions back, as a matter of urgency. The present crop of sycophants that have led to the present situation, of malicious investigations and prosecutions, must all be given offices at the department of sanitation and waste management if they can't join the party choirs. The department would be best suited for their variety.