'Malicious prosecution' lands PG in hot water

The Supreme Court last week ordered the Office of the Prosecutor-General (PG) to pay N$150 000 after it found that a South African man had been ‘maliciously prosecuted’.This follows Pieter Groenewald being acquitted of charges of human trafficking on the grounds that the State did not have enough evidence against him. Groenewald, a former colonel of the South African Army, was arrested in April 2013 with his fiancee, Elsie Greef, after they were caught transporting 12 men from the San community from the Bwabwata National Park. The State initially argued that they wanted to smuggle the men out of the country, but the case was dismissed in the Rundu District Court. Groenewald and Greef then approached the High Court with a claim against the PG for illegal arrests and malicious prosecution. However, the court only granted Greef's claim and dismissed Groenewald's. He then filed an appeal with the Supreme Court.Statements withdrawnThe San men made statements to authorities that formed part of the evidence PG Martha Imalwa based her decision to prosecute on.However, the men said at a later stage that their statements were misinterpreted by the persons who took them.The judges who recently ruled in the appeal application pointed out that the initial arrests and decision to prosecute were correct, but that the State should have stopped the prosecution immediately when the men withdrew their statements.They found that the PG had a duty to stop the prosecution after it became clear during consultations that the allegations made against Groenewald were wrong. The judges further ruled that there was no evidence from another source that involved Groenewald or Greef in crime.

'Malicious prosecution' lands PG in hot water

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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'Malicious prosecution' lands PG in hot water

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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