O’Sullivan goes after lawyer

FORENSIC consultant Paul O’Sullivan has called on the National Prosecuting Authority to investigate the conduct of the lawyer in charge of prosecuting him for breaching the Citizenship Act.

O’Sullivan was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport in April and accused of breaching the act. He had used his foreign passports to travel in and out of the country despite the fact that he was also a South African citizen.

O’Sullivan remains the first person in South Africa to be arrested for this relatively minor and lesser-known crime. While he admits to the action, he has pleaded not guilty on all six charges of contravening the act over the past 18 months.

O’Sullivan, through his advocate, Barry Roux, has argued that not only was he ignorant of the illegality of his actions, but the reason for using his foreign passports was to fly under the radar after allegedly receiving death threats from Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir.

Last week, the State brought into question magistrate Wynand Nel’s conduct. The prosecutor, advocate Jabulani Mlotshwa, said the presiding officer had shown bias by relaxing O’Sullivan’s bail conditions and allegedly conferring with the consultant’s lawyer, Darryl Furman, outside court proceedings.

But Mlotshwa’s recusal application failed on Friday, after the magistrate insisted he would remain neutral on proceedings.

Nel said his decision to relax the bail conditions was because O’Sullivan had never missed any of his court appearances and there was no proof he was a flight risk, as the State had alleged.

Regarding the conversation with Furman, Nel said he had simply informed the lawyer of an issue with the interpreter, a brief conversation. He therefore refused to recuse himself.

In a letter sent to National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams, O’Sullivan and Furman have approached the NPA, calling for a review of Mlotshwa’s allegedly illegal conduct during the recusal application.

Mlotshwa allegedly made deliberate false written representations to the court, particularly when the advocate accused the magistrate of having prematurely sided with O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan’s trial will continue next month.