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The Supreme Court of Appeals on Friday overturned the conviction and sentence of two northwest farmers who were convicted of killing a teenager in a high-profile case in Coligny, in the northwest.
The two farmers, Phillip Schutte and Pieter Doorewaard, were charged with killing Matlhomola Mosweu in April 2017, after he was allegedly caught stealing sunflower heads. But now they are out of the woods after the Supreme Court ruling.
The civil rights organization AfriForum, which funded the appeal case, has welcomed the acquittal.
“We are very grateful for the acquittal of Schutte and Doorewaard. AfriForum has said from the outset that the only witness from the state lied and therefore the organization decided to fund the appeal request. AfriForum has covered all the costs of the appeal request because we believe in his innocence and justice was served today, ”said Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum.
In March 2019, Schutte and Doorewaard received sentences of 23 and 18 years in prison, respectively. In November last year, they were granted a bail of 20,000 rand pending that they could appeal against their conviction and sentence.
TimesLIVE was unable to reach North West NPA spokesman Henry Mamothame for comment, but in an interview with the Newzroom Afrika news channel, he said they would study the sentence. He could not say whether the NPA would appeal, but said the prosecution maintained it had a strong case against the farmers.
Mamothame also refused to be swayed by the legitimacy of the evidence provided by the sole witness, who claimed to have seen what happened on the day of Mosweu’s death.
AfriForum had previously criticized the fact that the NPA did not consider cell phone records, which would have shown that the witness could not have seen what happened, given the distance at which he was at the time of the incident.
“I would not like to be based on the merits of the case or go to a public brawl. My contention is that the state had a strong case and the North West Superior Court issued a ruling. The appellants in the matter exercised their constitutional rights and took the matter on appeal.
“What is important for us is to study it and see what resources we have,” Mamothame said.
TimesLIVE
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