Pretoria police have finally been cleared of accusations of beating a local prostitute into a coma and nobody will be prosecuted, police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi said on Thursday.
”Members stationed at Sunnyside can once again hold their heads high after an exhaustive police investigation has cleared their names following front-page claims by a local newspaper that they had beaten a local prostitute into a coma,” Selebi said in a statement.
Selebi said the province’s directorate of public prosecutions (DPP) has declined to prosecute anyone in connection with the matter. ”This office has been advised that the docket was recently returned to the police and that the DPP, on April 10 2007, declined to prosecute any person.”
Between January 17 and 22 this year, newspapers reported that a 17-year-old girl was fighting for her life in a Pretoria hospital after being severely assaulted by Sunnyside police officials.
The national commissioner visited the station after the reports and ordered an investigation led by a senior Gauteng detective. The investigation found that the woman, aged 32, had vigorously resisted arrest, had been treated for minor injuries but never admitted to hospital, and had not been in a coma.
The investigation docket presented to the DPP apparently contained statements from a variety of witnesses, including paramedics and hospital personnel.
Selebi said although the newspaper group concerned published an apology for some of the inaccuracies, it had reserved further comment until the DPP’s decision was known.
”The members of the SAPS [South African Police Service] stationed at Sunnyside who were vilified on front pages for days deserve an unequivocal apology for having their reputations unfairly dragged through the mud,” said Selebi. — Sapa