Govender brothers' bail application, defence calls for fairness in court
LAWYERS acting for murder accused brothers Ferrel and Darren Govender urged the Durban Magistrates Court yesterday to not ignore issues they raised over their identification parade issue, when a decision is ultimately made on whether or not to grant them bail.
That verdict is expected to be delivered today when the matter resumes.
The brothers were arrested in connection with the murder of businessman Shailen Singh, 32, who was killed on December 29, in a parking lot on Meridian Drive in Umhlanga.
The defence raised the issue of the identification parade in the bail application of the Govender brothers numerous times during bail proceedings and also attempted to lodge an application to compel the State to divulge what occurred during the identification process.
The Court ruled that the issues raised regarding the parade was not necessary for it to make a decision on whether the businessmen should get bail or not.
The defence said a state eyewitness did not point out Ferrel as a shooter. The while the State maintained that Ferrel shot Singh.
The State believes that the details of the identification parade would be ventilated during the trial. They said they were not denying that their witness did not point to Ferrel as a shooter.
Counsel for Darren, advocate Christo van Schalkwyk SC, said by granting his client bail, the court would be permitting him to take an active role in planning with his counsel for his defence.
Schalkwyk said like the presumption of innocence, bail is a procedural human right.
“The basic purpose of bail, from society's point of view, has always been and still is to ensure the accused's reappearance for trial,” he said.
He said pretrial release serves other purposes as well, purposes recognised over the last decade as often dispositive of the fairness of the entire criminal proceeding.
Furthermore, Van Schalkwyk said the presumption of innocence operates in favour of the applicant, even when there is a strong prima facie case against him.
“A prima facie case before the court at this stage is mainly premised on hearsay evidence of the investigating officer,” he said.
He urged the court to apply the highest measure of fairness when dealing with this application.
Van Schalkwyk was unable to finish his arguments due to a power outage at the court.
On the side-lines, Singh’s father, Pradeep Singh, said this week marked a month since his son was murdered and all they wanted was justice for.
Wearing a T-shirt with his son's face Singh said: “We are heartbroken as a family. Shailen was our only son.
“Everyone is heartbroken. We miss him so much. His wife, his mother, his sister and especially his dog, Hugo.”
Shailen loved his wife and his baby, and his pet to bits.
When asked about the delay in the bail application Singh said they were pleased with the police investigation and hopeful that justice would prevail.
He declined to comment on the affair allegations saying the truth would be revealed.
DAILY NEWS