A former Anti-Gang Unit officer and the co-accused of alleged underworld kingpin, Nafiz Modack, claims senior cops pressured him into making a warning statement on the day of his arrest.
The statement by former Sergeant Ashley Tabisher has plunged the mammoth underworld trial into a trial-within-a-trial as he has called for the statement not to be entered into evidence by Judge Robert Henney.
According to the State’s case, Tabisher is accused of conspiring with two affiliates of Modack - namely Amaal Jantjies and Janick Adonis.
While Adonis was in custody for other crimes, Tabisher allegedly got into an agreement with Jantjies to provide information on when the elite police unit planned on raiding Modack’s homes.
The indictment states that during 2019, Tabisher was part of a police team that helped escort Adonis to the AGU base in Faure to meet with then-commander Major-General Andre Lincoln.
The State claims Jantjies and Adonis were in a relationship and Modack had allegedly agreed to fund a High Court application to appeal the bail outcome of Adonis.
Jantjies then allegedly corrupted Tabisher by convincing him to provide the information on the planned raid in exchange for money and a cellphone.
While bank records show that Jantjies had received money from the Empire Investments account, it is not yet clear whether Tabisher received any money.
Over the years, he has vehemently denied the State’s claims and insists commander Lincoln instructed him to communicate with the couple.
Tabisher, who is defending himself at the trial, questioned two seniors officers from the National Task Team, outlining the events that led up to his incarceration.
He also took to the stand and told Judge Henney that he was arrested on 2 May 2019 at his Elsies River home and, despite claims that he was taken to Bellville Police Station, he was instead taken to the 35 Squadron.
Here he was asked on several occasions to make a statement, but declined.
Tabisher explained that later in the presence of his lawyer, the investigative team offered him bail in exchange for completing the statement.
But as he left the holding cells, he was informed that the State would be opposing his bail.
State advocate Greg Wolmarans ripped into Tabisher’s claim, saying that this aspect was not brought into his bail applications.
Wolmarans said: “The document speaks for itself. There was no promise. You made it up. You cooked it up.”
But an angry Tabisher said the fact that he was not taken to the cop shop after his arrest was proof that police had tried to put pressure on him.
Henney ruled against Tabisher and said the statement would be admissible for the trial, and he would give reasons later.
The statement is set to be read out in court today.
monique.duval@inl.co.za