South Africa’s parliament building arson suspect appears in court charged with terrorism
China News Agency, Johannesburg, January 12 (Xinhua) On the evening of January 11, local time in South Africa, the Cape Town District Court in South Africa confirmed that Zandile Maffei, the suspect in the arson case of the South African Parliament Building, appeared in court that day, except for the original arson, theft, etc. In addition to the charges, he was also charged with the crime of engaging in terrorist activities.
On January 2, local time in South Africa, a fire broke out in the South African Parliament Building, and then the building experienced several resurgences and was seriously damaged. The damage to the building caused by the fire was very serious, especially the oldest part of the top floor of the Capitol was burned, which is difficult and expensive to repair in the short term.
After the disaster, 49-year-old Zandi Ray Maffei was arrested by the police after being found with various Capitol items in his possession. He briefly appeared in court on January 4. Due to the need for additional evidence, the court announced that Maffei would have to appear in court again on January 11. During the examination, the results showed that Maffei suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.
The Cape Town District Court revealed that after the trial on the same day, the court decided that the next trial of Maffei will be held on February 11 this year, during which the suspect will continue to be detained and will be sent to a designated medical institution for a psychiatric examination. Determine if he is truly mentally ill and fit to stand trial.
In response to the previous bail application being rejected by the court, Maffei told his lawyer that if his bail application did not progress, he would go on a hunger strike to protest. His team of lawyers insisted that Maffei was just a scapegoat for the fire, and that he had no problem and that his bail application should have been accepted, and that the month-long psychiatric examination was unfair to Maffei.
Various political parties in South Africa have issued statements one after another, calling on the normal work of the South African Congress not to be interrupted by the fire, and should ensure that South African President Ramaphosa can deliver the State of the Union address in Congress as scheduled next month. At the same time, the South African government also called on the South African people to suspend groundless speculation about the cause of the fire and wait for the government to announce the final investigation results. (Finish)
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