Jailbreak plot: Krejcir, fellow inmate and warder face charges

Radovan Krejcir has now been charged alongside a prison warder and fellow inmate for an alleged prison escape plot.

Johannesburg - Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir has now been charged alongside a prison warder and fellow inmate for an alleged prison escape plot.

Meanwhile, the inmate has denied knowledge of the plot and claims he didn’t even know Krejcir or the warder.

Last week, Correctional Services’ Solly Metlae and prisoner Sandile Mdumbe appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court relating to an alleged plot to aid Krejcir to break out of prison earlier this year.

Krejcir was convicted last year for the kidnapping of Bhekithemba Lukhele, whose brother Bhekisizwe Nkosi had stolen and fled with a large supply of crystal meth set to be sold by Krejcir.

While police have stated on the record that Krejcir had constructed numerous plots to escape from prison since the conviction, it was only on Monday that the Czech was finally charged in relation to one of these alleged attempts.

Krejcir was initially set to appear on Monday in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court for his extradition hearing, but that case was postponed in his absence to June 7.

In a surprise turn of events, however, Krejcir was brought to Metlae and Mdumbe’s bail application proceedings, where he was also charged with numerous counts of corruption, defeating the ends of justice and conspiracy to escape from custody.

While Krejcir seemed unfazed by the new criminal case, Mdumbe was nearly in tears as he told relatives in the public gallery after proceedings that “I don’t even know them”.

The large security contingent surrounding the three accused seemed unsympathetic, with one of the officers telling Mdumbe that he should rather tell that to his lawyer, Thengu Fakude.

Mdumbe’s role in the alleged escape plot remains unexplained so far, as a detailed charge sheet has yet to be submitted to the court, and the prosecution has so far remained mum on the issue.

The bail application will continue on April 22. Krejcir is expected to apply for leave to appeal his previous conviction and 35-year sentence next week.

shain.germaner@inl.co.za

The Star