A cop on trial has accused police of misleading the family of Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear about his murder.
Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) officer, Sergeant Ashley Tabisher, claims corrupt cops are scared that the “real truth” will be revealed and that he had been set up.
Tabisher, who is accused of colluding with alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack has denied all the charges against him, saying he was only following instructions.
In his bid for freedom, Tabisher, who has been charged with corruption for allegedly accepting R10 000 and a cellphone to leak information to Modack, has lifted the lid on the events which led to the death of AGU commander Kinnear.
Tabisher and Modack along with Zane Kilian, Jacques Cronje, Ricardo Morgan, Jannick Adonis and Amaal Jantjies are charged with being members of the “Nafiz Modack Enterprise” which the state claims is behind the plot to kill Kinnear and his family.
The group appeared in the Blue Downs’ Regional court yesterday for a bail hearing.
In his affidavits, which were read by attorney Bruce Hendricks, Tabisher fingers AGU boss Major-General Andre Lincoln as the person who instructed him to communicate with Adonis and Jantjies, who had worked with the AGU.
He said he would provide proof that Lincoln issued him a state phone to communicate with the duo in a bid to “gain their trust” and he planned to subpoena other AGU officers to court.
He said he was instructed to transport Adonis to the AGU base in Faure as Adonis was allegedly helping Lincoln to recover firearms.
It is believed that Adonis wanted AGU detectives to assist him to get a lighter sentence for a firearm related case.
Tabisher claimed that state prosecutor, Blaine Lazarus, was also present during these meetings.
Lazarus is the same prosecutor who is currently prosecuting Modack and his co-accused.
He further stated that during this time, Lincoln was in contact with the Deputy Director for Public Prosecutions, Shareen Riley, about their plans.
“Major-General Lincoln intimated that he was discussing the issues pertaining to Jennick Adonis with Advocate Riley from the Director of Public Prosecutions,” said Tabisher.
“I have evidence to this effect. I was therefore under the impression that all necessary institutions were aware of the dealings with Amaal Jantjies.”
Gasps were heard in the public gallery when Hendricks told the court that Tabisher believed he was set up to take the fall for corrupt cops.
“They want the court to believe that I, as a sergeant in the police, infiltrated a unit and obtained information for Mr Modack,” he said.
“I don’t know Mr Modack and I want the state to prove my so-called involvement with Mr Modack.
“My continued incarceration is nothing but torture, they are scared the real truth about the murder of Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear will come out and that the family that has been misled by these criminals will finally face their fate.”
Tabisher broke down in the dock when Hendricks told Magistrate Deon van der Spuy that his four-year-old daughter cannot stop crying since his arrest.
He said the first time he saw Modack was during the arrest of Colin Booysen at the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court in November 2018.
At the time, Modack, Booysen and others were accused of extortion in an investigation led by Kinnear but they were later acquitted.
Tabisher said Lincoln pushed for Booysen to be arrested inside court and then perjured himself and lied to the court.
It was also revealed that other cops signed affidavits in support of Tabisher’s claims but were too scared to have their names mentioned in court as they have allegedly been threatened by SAPS management.
The matter was postponed to Thursday.