Johannesburg - A key witness against Czech criminal Radovan Krejcir is fearing for his life after he was removed from a state protection programme.
That man, whose name is known to The Star, has suddenly been left unprotected by police, after he spent years in hiding in the UK through the state protection programme.
The man now believes his life is in danger.
Read: Krejcir in lockdown to foil escape
This was revealed through a letter of demand written by the man’s attorneys, Darryl Furman and Associates, to Deputy National Commissioner of Police Lieutenant-General Khehla John Sithole, as well as affidavits and transcripts of meetings the witness had with the police.
The letter of demand asks that the witness protection funding previously afforded to him for nearly two years be reinstated this week, failing which he would approach the high court to ask that his life be protected.
The witness allegedly refused to be placed in the normal witness protection programme in South Africa because he saw how the whereabouts of another witness in the programme were given to Krejcir, who allegedly ordered a hit on the man.
The letter from Darryl Furman says their client has specific (and detailed) knowledge of some of the many crimes that were allegedly committed by Krejcir and his accomplices.
“He had penetrated the syndicate and was providing information back to his handlers”, the letter says.
Read: R2.9m spent on security for Krejcir case
“To be clear, our client never engaged in any criminal conduct himself, but was a plant” in the syndicate and was regularly feeding back information.
“It was very dangerous, as the criminals in the syndicate were bragging all the time about how many cops were on the payroll of Krejcir.”
The man is allegedly a witness in four different cases against Krejcir, the main one being the conspiracy to murder Colonel Nkosana Ximba and forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan in January 2014.
Arrangements were made for the witness to be taken to the UK, where he was to stay until the commencement of the trials at the expense of the SAPS.
Read: Call to Krejcir came from Crime London
However, the witness was brought back to South Africa in December last year, and after he refused the normal witness protection programme once again, police dropped all protection for him.
Furman said there were other precedents for people being protected out of the witness protection programme.
O’Sullivan, who is helping to look after the witness, said he thought it was “absolutely disgusting that a witness could be placed in a position where they could be killed” and that a private citizen had to pay for witnesses' protection.
SAPS spokesman Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said the police never discussed witnesses in the public domain.
The Star