Kuruneri case goes to Supreme Court-(15-02-07)

adverse pre-trial publicity, objectionable statements in the outline of the charges and a refusal by the prosecution to supply some documents to the defence, deprived Kuruneri of his constitutional right to a fair trial.
Kuruneri was arrested in April 2004 on allegations of violating the country’s currency laws after going on a property-shopping spree in South Africa. He was granted bail in July 2005 and was remanded in custody for two months before appearing in court.
Kuruneri was arrested following South African press reports indicating he had purchased a R5,7 million house in Apostle Road, in the leafy Llandudno in Cape Town. He renovated it for R1 million in 2001.
The following year he purchased a R2,7 property in the nearby Sunset Rd and started renovating it for a massive R30 million. Kuruneri’s multi-million seaside mansion comprises eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, and four floors, all of them accessed by an elevator.
He also bought a Mercedes Benz 4×4. An inquiry held in 2004 with the help of South African police, revealed that Kuruneri had bought all his houses and luxurious vehicle in cash and in hard currency. The inquiry revealed Kuruneri withdrew vast sums of cash from a Zimbabwean bank account.
Meanwhile the Asset Forfeiture Unit in Cape Town is reportedly mulling seizing Kuruneri’s properties on grounds that the properties were “bought with proceeds of crime.”
Head of the Asset Forfeiture Unit in the Western Cape in South Africa, Hermione Cronje said they were keenly observing developments in the trial, and would seize his assets using the civil asset forfeiture if he is found guilty. – Staff Reporter