The Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court heard that the two men accused of murdering pastor Albern Martins were in danger.
|||Cape Town - The Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court on Thursday heard that the two men accused of murdering pastor Albern Martins were in danger.
Prosecutor Shane Rispel told the court that Ruben Adams, 22, of Delft and Morne Dino Charles, 22, of Wesbank could not be held at Pollsmoor or Goodwood prisons because it was unsafe for them.
The men, however, told magistrate Gerald Hattingh that they had no problem being held at Goodwood Prison. But Hattingh said the court could not allow the accused to decide where they should be kept pending their trial.
Initially, five people were arrested in connection with Martins’s murder - an alleged hit - outside Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court on March 1.
Martins, a controversial pastor known for brokering deals with gangs across Cape Town, was shot in the head at point-blank range.
He had been due to appear in court with his wife, Minnie, their son Andrew, also known as Alton, Spencer Pietersen and convicted money launderer and alleged mandrax crime syndicate boss Kiyaam Rinquest.
Soon after the killing, a 17-year-old was arrested followed by four others - Adams, Charles, Mitchell Jacobus Tallies, 18, and Dulin Aden Isaacs, 18, both of Wesbank. All were charged.
But, on the instruction of the director of public prosecutions, the State withdrew the charges against the minor last Friday.
Tallies and Isaacs were released on Monday after the case against them was also withdrawn.
“I can confirm that the charges against the three men were withdrawn due to insufficient evidence,” director of public prosecutions spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said.
On Thursday, Rispel said the State was opposing bail.
The men are due in court again on Wednesday so that a date can be arranged for their formal bail application.
jade.otto@inl.co.za
Cape Argus