Alleged underworld kingpin, Nafiz Modack, has conceded to taking a Legal Aid lawyer to represent him at the mammoth underworld trial set to start in the Western Cape High Court next year.
After months of delays in obtaining legal representation, and a final ultimatum by the court, the man who is known for his luxury cars and branded clothing, will now make an application for State legal representation.
This emerged on Wednesday as Modack and his co-accused returned to court for one of their final pre-trial hearings aimed at addressing the preparations for the trial.
Modack appeared on two different matters which have now been labelled the “Kinnear Matter” and the “Tax Matter”.
In the first trial, the State is set to prove that he plotted the assassination of slain Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear.
Along with several other accused, he faces over 3000 charges relating to various incidents including the grenade attack on Kinnear’s home, pinging the cellphone of Kinnear and other high-ranking cops, as well as the attempted hit on criminal lawyer William Booth, fraud, corruption and racketeering charges.
In previous hearings, Modack complained that he was unable to consult or get access to friends outside of prison to make financial arrangements for his trial, but yesterday Advocate Schalk van der Merwe told the court he had agreed to opt for Legal Aid due to the ultimatum issued.
He says: “Advocate Uys and myself had the opportunity to discuss the matter with the accused and I confirm with him that he will apply for Legal Aid and if he is successful, he will indicate certain requests to Legal Aid and he is able to continue to obtain financial instructions for any other legal representations that may come on board.”
Meanwhile, co-accused Ashley Tabisher stunned the court when he suddenly fired his lawyer, Advocate Bruce Hendricks, and said he would represent himself.
The former AGU officer, who is accused of leaking information on planned operations at the homes of Modack, addressed Judge Mark Sher as he slammed State prosecutor Advocate Blaine Lazarus.
Tabisher told the court that he would plead not guilty to all the charges against him, saying he acted on the instructed of former AGU head Major-General Andre Lincoln and Captain Stone.
He asked whether Lazarus would be part of the prosecution team and claimed that the State prosecutor allegedly visited the AGU base and worked alongside the lawyer of co-accused Jannick Adonis to have him obtain a lighter sentence on a separate matter at the Khayelitsha Priority Court.
But State prosecutor Greg Wolmarans explained Lazarus would be part of the prosecution team.
Judge Sher said the case would proceed on 29 January but he would call Modack and his younger brother Yaseen, who has still not yet appointed a lawyer despite Sher’s ultimatum earlier his month, back to court on 18 January to resolve outstanding matters.
Sher also warned not even load shedding would stop the trial.
The judge says: “Let’s be clear, this trial is due to start on 29 January and will start come rain, thunder, hail, snow, Eskom, load shedding. We are going to start this trail on the day.”
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