Randburg Police charged with assault
KENSINGTON B – Randburg Police now have charges laid against them, after a woman's Valentine’s Day ordeal.
Nicholas Zaal 16 February 2015 12:00
According to Lana Stander and witnesses who submitted statements, four Randburg Police officers assaulted her while she was awake and more did so while she was unconscious. She was dumped in the back of a police van and when she suffered an epileptic attack, two witnesses later stated that she had been dragged from the van and onto the ground while the cops were dancing a victory dance (toyi-toyi) around her, laughing and insulting her while she desperately needed help. She suffered two epileptic attacks but the police did not help her.
In a dramatic turnaround, the State has withheld its decision to charge Stander with driving under the influence (she had tested negative for alcohol in her blood), and reckless and negligent driving, after she laid charges against National Police Commissioner General Riah Phiyega for theft and assault by Randburg Police officers after the arrest, and revealed medical evidence that she was sober.
Stander was falsely arrested on 14 February after a car hit her. She was tested negative for blood-alcohol but the cops still arrested her. She was roughly handled. The epilepsy sufferer had an epileptic attack. The handcuffed woman was was driven to a site where they beat and kicked her. She wrote on her own facebook page with accompanying pictures that she was bruised and scarred from their assaults.
“When on of the police officers attempted to hit me again I defended myself by hitting her with the handcuffs and so blocking another attack,” she said.
The officers then drove her to Randburg Police Station and left her in the back of the van while they slept in the front seats. After they allegedly threatened her again, Stander had another seizure.
She claims that although she was unconscious, two witnesses can verify that the officers dragged her out the van and danced around her.
Stander was taken to the holding cells at the station, where she was allegedly denied a phone call, and told that she could not take medication for her condition because she was drunk. When she was finally released, her friend Bernhard Bekker helped her lay the charges at Linden Police Station. Bekker said at court that 14 of Stander’s human rights were violated, ranging from brutal assault and torture to refusing medication for an illness such as epilepsy. They said that they will also lay civil charges for these.
Rand Randburg Police Warrant Officer Johannes Maja was contacted and comment is awaited. Details: Randburg police 011 449 9000.o
http://randburgsun.co.za/250229/randburg-police-charged-with-assault/
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