N1 assault: Victim says he thought they were being hijacked
The trial against 8 police officers is underway in the Randburg Magistrates Court following a violent incident on the N1 highway last year.
FILE: A screengrab from a video showing members of the police’s presidential protection unit assaulting three civilians on the N1 near Fourways in Johannesburg. Picture: Twitter
JOHANNESBURG - One of the victims of an alleged attack by Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s former VIP protection guards said he thought they were being hijacked when the officers tried to stop them on the highway.
The trial against eight police officers is underway in the Randburg Magistrates Court, following a violent incident on the N1 highway last year.
In a viral video, the men can be seen assaulting two men from a VW Polo with firearms in hand on the highway.
However, the men have pleaded not guilty to the 11 charges against them, including assault to cause grievous bodily harm.
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While under cross-examination, one of the victims of the apparent attack by the VIP protection guards said that he did not see any hand signals for him to stop from the people who were in the car that was chasing him.
But counsel from the defence has read a statement from one the people who were travelling with him, who said she told him to stop because she could see the people who were trying to stop them were police.
But the witness said that all he could see were men waving guns at them and he immediately thought they were being hijacked.
While the lawyer for the defence said the officers thought he would collide with their presidential convoy, the witness has dismissed this as untrue.
His testimony continues.