The civil rights organisation AfriForum has welcomed the acquittal of Phillip Schutte and Pieter Doorewaard on all charges against them in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.
“We are very thankful for the acquittal of Schutte and Doorewaard. AfriForum has said from the very beginning that the state’s only witness lied and therefore the organisation decided to finance the two men’s application for appeal. AfriForum has covered the full costs of the application for appeal because we believed in their innocence and today justice was served,” says Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum.
Earlier Schutte and Doorewaard were found guilty by Judge Ronnie Hendrick of the murder of the teenager Mathlomola Moshoeu. Thereafter the men received special leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein to appeal their conviction.
The two men’s legal team, led by Adv. Barry Roux (SC), successfully petitioned the Court of Appeal to receive leave to appeal after the High Court in Mmabatho denied leave to appeal in this case in March this year.
Read the original article in Afrikaans on AfriForum
South Africa Today – South Africa News
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