Thulsie twins to remain in jail until October
The bail bid of jailed twins Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie, who are accused of plotting terror attacks on Jewish and US interests, was postponed to October.
|||Johannesburg - The bail application of jailed twins Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie, who are accused of plotting terror attacks on Jewish and US interests in South Africa, was postponed on Thursday to October.
The twins, who have been in jail for more than two months, had initially chosen to challenge the lawfulness of their arrest rather than apply for bail.
They contend police officers who arrested them at their Newclare home in Johannesburg only had a search warrant. Police concede they did not have an arrest warrant but say they acted lawfully.
Last week on Monday the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court declared the arrest of the Thulsie twins was lawfully executed by the police.
However, the lawyer for the twins Annelene van den Heever told the magistrates court she would seek a high Court review of the ruling.
On Thursday Magistrate Pieter du Plessis told Van Den Heever that he was notified that there was an application at the High Court to rule if the search warrant was lawful.
State prosecutor, Chris MacAdam, told the court that on the 19th August the twins brought an application to the High Court for review arguing against the magistrate’s ruling that the accused were lawfully arrested.
He said the matter was struck off the roll on the bases that it had to be heard at a review which had to be done by two judges.
“Certain transcripts are outstanding and they would prefer to proceed with the review then continue with the bail application,” said MacAdam.
MacAdam said the state and the defence had agreed to a postponement. “We will discuss everything to finalise the investigation by that time.”
Van Den Heever responded that she wanted the investigations to be done as soon as possible because the twins had been incarcerated for a long time.
In line with the agreement, Magistrate Du Plessis postponed the bail hearing to 11 October to allow for the high court review to go ahead first.
Police arrested the 23-year-old twins on 9 July after they searched their home and found documents that they said incriminated them in terror plots and planning to join the terror group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The twins have been charged with conspiracy and incitement to commit the crime of terrorism and conspiring and attempting to commit acts associated with terrorist activities.
Outside the court a small group of about 10 supporters held a banner demanding the release of the twins. The supporters wore T-shirts written “Free the Thulsie Twins”.
The terror suspects will remain in custody until their next appearance.
African News Agency