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Andre Pienaar’s attorneys will take his release to Superior Court after the Magistrates Court denied him bail.
Violent demonstration by a group of farmers in front of the Senekal Magistrates Court in the Free State on October 6, 2020. Image: @ crimeairnetwork / Twitter
SENEKAL – Attorneys for a Senekal man accused of attempting to kill a police officer on Wednesday accused the local court of penalizing him for having underlying medical conditions when considering his bail request.
Andre Pienaar’s attorneys will take his release to Superior Court after the Magistrates Court denied him bail.
The 51-year-old was one of the protesters who set fire to a police van and parts of the local court last week following the murder of 21-year-old Brendan Horner.
Horner’s body was found hanging from a pole earlier this month on a farm in Paul Roux, where he worked.
Pienaar’s lawyers argued that as a person diagnosed with bipolar disorder, you should take specific medications that need to be monitored regularly.
They also said that his medication would have to constantly adapt to ensure that his mental state remained stable.
But Judge Buti Mlangeni said Pienaar’s medical condition, which appeared to be unpredictable, indicated that no bond condition would prevent him from committing other crimes that could disrupt public order.
He also pointed out how Pienaar’s lawyers said they could seek to have him referred to a psychiatric institution for a mental evaluation, saying this indicated that Pienaar could not be controlled in any way.
Pienaar’s lawyers said the court was wrong to say that it is not in the interest of justice to release their client and as a result they petitioned the Bloemfontein High Court.
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