BUSINESSMAN Frank Buyanga Sadiqi has petitioned the South African Presidency, demanding his release following his detention in a Johannesburg facility over allegations of kidnapping, fraud, and financial crimes in 2022.
However, through his legal team, the Hamilton Foundation, he argues that new evidence has exposed a systematic abuse of power, fabricated charges, and judicial manipulation.
The businessman-turned-philanthropist believes these factors all point to a politically motivated effort to keep him imprisoned.
He claims to have been subjected to “unlawful detention, procedural irregularities, and a blatant miscarriage of justice.”
“We implore the South African government, the judiciary, the South African Human Rights Commission, and the international community to intervene and rectify this grave injustice,” the Hamilton Foundation stated.
The alleged unlawful detention relates to the Criminal Procedure Act, which mandates that an arrested person must be brought before a court within 48 hours.
Sadiqi was arrested and charged on November 29, 2022, but was only brought to court for his first appearance on December 7, 2022, as indicated in his court records.
His legal representatives also question the docket opened in Orlando, Soweto, which was registered on November 16, 2022, without a supporting statement from the complainant. The complainant’s statement was reportedly only filed nine days later.
It has emerged that the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) registered a second, parallel docket in Sandton in September 2004 against the immigration practitioners who assisted Sadiqi in submitting his ID application.
Despite the absence of a prima facie case, new evidence proving no wrongdoing, and an offer of R12 million for bail, the National Prosecuting Authority has persistently refused to grant Sadiqi bail.
Police and the state have accused him of conspiring to escape from prison, leading to his classification as a flight risk. His legal team has rejected this claim.
Court documents indicate that he is a South African resident and a dual national of the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe.
Recently, attorneys representing South African President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that they would abide by the Constitutional Court’s decision following an application made by Buyanga, who had recently launched another bid for freedom.
A warrant of arrest was issued against him by a Harare magistrate after he took his son to South Africa without the mother’s consent.
At one point, the warrant was canceled, only to be reinstated after the prosecution successfully applied for its reinstatement at the High Court early last year.
Buyanga was once granted R150,000 bail by the Randburg Magistrates’ Court but was immediately re-arrested on a charge of breaching South African immigration laws.
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