{"id":109440,"date":"2014-03-12T17:22:48","date_gmt":"2014-03-12T17:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=109440"},"modified":"2014-03-12T17:22:48","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T17:22:48","slug":"south-african-police-attack-naked-assault-victim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/south-african-police-attack-naked-assault-victim\/","title":{"rendered":"South African police attack naked assault victim"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thabo Seseane Jr.\u00a0<\/strong>
\nRINF Alternative News<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Users of social media channels were aghast last Friday over\u00a0a video<\/a>\u00a0showing South African Police Service (SAPS) officers beating, throttling and kicking a naked man who had just been assaulted in the Cape Town Central Business District. The incident occurred in Riebeeck Street last Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

The following day, an office worker who filmed part of the assault from a nearby building spoke to the\u00a0Cape Argus<\/em>. \u201cWhat you see on the video is only a fraction of the assault,\u201d she said. \u201cIt went on for about half an hour in total.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said it appeared that the victim, identified by the\u00a0Independent Online<\/em>\u00a0as Nigerian national Clement Emekensha, had been assaulted even before the SAPS turned up, as she arrived on the scene before them. At that stage, she says, Emekensha was already lying naked near the doorway of the Sky Sports Bar in Riebeeck Street, next to a pile of clothes. She saw him get up and put on his underwear, but the rest of his clothing had been taken into the night club.<\/p>\n

In the video, two Central City Improvement District (CCID) officers and a private security guard are also shown participating in the assault next to a parked Volkswagen Golf. An SAPS officer sprays mace in Emekensha\u2019s face. A police officer and a CCID officer then pull Emekensha away from the car and farther into the street, where the CCID officer yanks Emekensha\u2019s briefs down. The nude victim struggles to get away, but the two police officers grab his wrists, twisting his arm. One of the officers then throttles Emekensha with his right hand before pinning his hands behind his back.<\/p>\n

The second SAPS officer then very deliberately punches Emekensha three times in the groin. The victim bends over in pain as the police officer holding him from behind jabs his elbow into Emekensha\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

The same officer who punched his genitals then kicks Emekensha in the groin twice, as a CCID officer holds the victim\u2019s arms behind his back. The security guard helps the officer. Emekensha is pulled towards a waiting police van. He is kicked as he tries to get in. All the while he is bleeding from a gash on the back of his head, which witnesses assert was inflicted by the SAPS.<\/p>\n

In the video, a witness is heard shouting, \u201cPolice brutality! That\u2019s not how you treat a person! Why are you kicking him? Why are you kicking him? That\u2019s the only reason why you\u2019re in the news all day!\u201d<\/p>\n

At that point, one of the SAPS officers threateningly points his finger at the person holding the camera. Then he marches towards the entrance of the building from which the incident was filmed.<\/p>\n

Some of the office workers are defiant by now. \u201cHe can come up! He can come up, man,\u201d one of them is heard saying on the video.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Cape Argus<\/em>\u00a0eyewitness identified one of the officers, having read his surname from a name badge. She said the officer arrested one of her co-workers for \u201cinterfering with police work\u201d after noticing that the incident was being filmed.<\/p>\n

The Western Cape SAPS announced the suspension of both officers on Friday pending an investigation. On Saturday, Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) spokesman Moses Dlamini said the SAPS warrant officers, aged 42 and 45, were arrested on Friday night. The two now face assault charges, though other charges could be added, Dlamini said.<\/p>\n

IPID has a poor record of securing convictions against police officers facing misconduct charges, even as the police watchdog recorded a 218 percent increase in police assaults in the 2012\/13 financial year. According to IPID\u2019s October 2013 report, there were:<\/p>\n