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Joshlin Smith: Video footage reveals ‘client was tortured’
Cape Argus
|April 10, 2025
THE Western Cape High Court was shown video footage that appeared to show a visibly limping Steveno Van Rhyn, one of the accused in the Joshlin Smith case, struggling to sit down, a moment that raised concern from his legal representative and the presiding judge.
Van Rhyn’s lawyer, Nobahle Mkabyi, argued that the accused was tortured, deprived of sleep and food, and forced to confess under extreme physical and psychological pressure during an interview on March 4 and 5, 2024. The video footage was recorded on March 5 in the police.
The trial-within-a-trial is currently testing the admissibility of that confession. Mkabyi said her client had not been wearing shoes because his feet were swollen from the previous night’s torture.
Judge Nathan Erasmus questioned Captain Phillip Seekoei, the officer who took the confession, on why he failed to notice the accused’s physical discomfort.
This story is from the April 10, 2025 edition of Cape Argus.
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