/ 20 September 2007

Najwa Petersen relative in court

A man facing three charges of possession of stolen property believes the media have turned his case into a high profile one due to his family connection to Najwa Petersen, the woman accused of murdering her husband, Taliep Petersen.

Achmat Rylands (34) was on Wednesday released on R10 000 bail, following his arrest on September 10.

He appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, where magistrate Jesthree Steyn warned him to report to the Athlone police three times a week as a condition of his release.

His defence counsel, Peter Mihalik, told the court he and prosecutor Juanita Swart had agreed to the bail amount.

Mihalik added: ”My client is no angel, and we agree that R10 000 is a fair and reasonable amount in the circumstances.”

A warrant issued for Rylands’ arrest, which formed part of the court record, stated that the charges were framed in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

It is alleged that Rylands is a dealer in stolen property.

An affidavit handed to the court on Wednesday, as part of his bail proceedings, said Rylands worked for his father in the shoe business.

It said he had previous convictions for fraud, an unspecified number of assaults and reckless driving.

In the affidavit, Rylands said he also had a pending criminal case, for allegedly pointing a firearm

He said he was out on bail in the firearm case, and was due to appear in court again on October 12.

He said the current charges, involving the alleged possession of stolen property, resulted from a police trap, authorised by the National Prosecuting Authority.

Concerning the Petersen murder case, he added: ”I am related to the person whose case had received huge publicity, and this is why my case has also received press attention.”

Rylands was warned to appear in court again on November 30. – Sapa