The release of a Chinese national after about R4-million in pirated CDs and DVDs were found at his Cyrildene home was a travesty, the South African Federation against Copyright Theft (Safact) said on Sunday.
”For that guy to get off is a travesty … but the law had to prevail,” spokesperson James Lennox said.
His comments followed reports by City Press newspaper that a senior prosecutor at the Johannesburg Specialised Crimes Court, Hans Wolfaard, removed Zhouren Chen’s case from the roll due to police deviations from procedure.
”I understand their frustrations, but our view is that there is a correct way of doing this; mistakes will happen, but people have to do investigations, gather enough evidence, then lay criminal charges and get a warrant from the magistrate,” Lennox said.
”If people are going to go into people’s houses without following the laws of the land, obviously, criminals will go away.”
Chen was apparently released after it was discovered that musicians — mostly members of the Creative Workers’ Union (CWU) — and other general law-enforcement officers contaminated the crime scene.
According to the law, only a select team of police officers from the commercial crimes unit was supposed to be on the scene. Police who went to Chen’s house in Cyrildene also did not have a special warrant required for such a search-and-seizure operation.
After the seizure — which saw police confiscating 3 000 counterfeit CDs, DVDs and tapes — Chen claimed that a cash amount of R300 000 had gone missing, the paper reported.
His advocate, Mannie Witz, said some of the musicians who were at the house were seen looting and sharing the money.
The CWU could not be immediately reached for comment.
Police spokesperson Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht said she was ”still trying to get hold of the investigating officer for information on the matter”.
Meanwhile, a poll conducted by TNS Research Surveys among 2 000 people in South African cities showed a high level of readiness to purchase counterfeit goods, the Sunday Times reported. At least two million out of 11,7-million adults were found to be potential customers for pirated CDs and DVDs. — Sapa