Murder accused and businessman Mark Lifman will appeal a failed attempt to have his bail conditions eased in order for him “to start a new life” in Turkey.
This comes after the Western Cape High Court dismissed his urgent application to relax his bail conditions in order for him to take up an offer of employment in Bursa, Turkey which would require him to travel “extensively” to and from Europe, South America, and Africa.
Lifman faces nine criminal charges and is currently out on R100 000 bail.
The State had opposed Lifman’s application.
The criminal trial against Lifman, which includes alleged underworld figure Jerome ‘Donkie’ Booysen and Andre Naude, is expected to get under way next year in relation to the alleged murder of Brian ‘Steroid King’ Wainstein, who was killed at his Constantia home in August 2017 while asleep next to his child and partner.
The case has 15 accused and was transferred from the lower court earlier this year as the group, alleged to be affiliated to the 27’s gang, face a total of 38 charges relating to, among other counts, murder, contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca), corruption, conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder.
Lifman on Sunday said he was planning to lodge an appeal.
“I’m not a flight risk, I never will be a flight risk. I never missed one date of court. Therefore the only issue that was at stake with regards to this bail application was the fact that ‘am I a flight risk?’. I will be standing my trial and I will be appealing the decision,” said Lifman.
According to court documents, the company which offered Lifman the business opportunity, Cisiy Textiles, had previous involvement with Lifman before the Covid-19 pandemic, as he “assisted them with sourcing fabrics, attending trade fairs and meeting with agents and manufacturers”.
All these functions apparently involved extensive overseas traveling which included a variety of countries including Turkey, Israel, Russia, China, Hong Kong, the USA, the United Kingdom, Greece, Poland, Netherlands, Belgium, Dubai, and Georgia.
The bail judgment read: “However, this changed in the replying affidavit. Lifman is now satisfied to only travel to Dubai. This is again peculiar as the primary motivation for the application was initially to allow him to travel extensively and to develop business opportunities for Cisiy Textiles in various countries…What the Court deducts from all of this is that Lifman is rather intensely focused on being outside of the borders of South Africa and in particularly Turkey and it is not pertinent for him to perform the functions he so strongly relied on to justify the freedom to travel while awaiting the finalization of his trial.”
-Cape Times
In other news – The real reason why Kaya FM fired Unathi Nkayi; Sizwe Dhlomo involved
Seasoned radio host and Idols SA judge Unathi Nkayi was fired from her job at Kaya FM on Wednesday, allegedly following a heated argument with fellow host Sizwe Dhlomo a few weeks ago.
The Gauteng-based radio station announced that it had terminated the Midday Joy host’s contract with immediate effect because “certain incidents had occurred, which resulted in the breakdown of the trust relationship between the two parties”. Learn More
The post WC High Court dismisses murder accused Mark Lifman’s application to work abroad while he awaits trial appeared first on News365.co.za.
Post a Comment