Joshlin Smith trial: Detective denies being present during alleged torture of Van Rhyn
Van Rhyn and co-accused Appollis insist they were beaten by police and threatened with death, to admit they were involved in Joshlin's disappearance.
Co-accused in the disappearance of Joshlin Smith, Jacquen Appollis and Stevano van Rhyn, in the Western Cape High Court sitting in the Saldanha Multi-Purpose Centre. Picture: Kayleen Morgan/EWN
CAPE TOWN - A detective has denied various details related to the alleged torture of one of the accused in the Joshlin Smith trial.
A defence attorney cross-examined the detective on Wednesday about the interrogation of her client, Stevano van Rhyn, in March 2024.
Van Rhyn, along with Jacquen Appollis and Joshlin's mother, Kelly Smith, are on trial for Joshlin's disappearance.
The detective in the anti-kidnapping unit, Sergeant Dawid Fortuin, denied being present when Van Rhyn was allegedly tortured by police colleagues.
Van Rhyn and co-accused Appollis insist they were beaten by police and threatened with death to admit they were involved in Joshlin's disappearance.
In confession statements, they claim Kelly Smith instructed them to leave Joshlin with Phumza Sigaqa, a former accused in the matter, on the day the child went missing.
Van Rhyn and Appollis insist police told them to implicate Smith and Sigaqa in the ordeal.
Fortuin has also denied that the accused were present when police went to fetch Sigaqa for questioning.
ALSO READ: Detective denies why he did not believe van Rhyn was not involved in Joshlin Smith's disappearance
Missing girl Joshlin Smith’s mother Kelly Smith appears in a good mood today. The kidnapping and human trafficking accused is on trial in the High Court, sitting in the Saldanha Multi-Purpose Center, along with Stevano Van Rhyn and Jacquen Appollis for Joshlin’s disappearance. CP pic.twitter.com/4D1ZCaCL4N
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