Legal analyst says convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester has a point after he accused the state of depriving him of a fair trial.
Bester and his co-accused appeared at the Bloemfontein High Court on Wednesday, 5 June, for a pretrial hearing. However, the matter was postponed as Bester’s legal representative withdrew from the case.faces a litany of charges. Bester and his alleged girlfriend and celebrity doctor Nandipha Magudumana were deported to South Africa from Arusha, Tanzania in April 2023.
“If it means that this court can accept the petition and the public can sign it, then we can put all this to rest. I am at peace. I know what I’ve done and what I have not done,” Bester said as he pleaded for a death penalty., legal analyst Abigail Ngubeni said Thabo Bester faces serious charges for his brazen escape, and the offences’ circumstances also touch on security inside prison cells.
Ngubeni said you would expect prison officials to strike a balance between upholding the law and also providing security to ensure that the offences are not repeated. Ngubeni said Correctional Services officials should devise measures to ensure that the rights of detained accused persons are protected at all costs.