OutHouse
Lifer
A prisoner who was left incontinent after gang members allegedly pushed a dagga parcel up his rectum and retrieved it with a coathanger, is now suing the government for breaching the constitution.
The police and correctional services are opposing his legal action saying that if he screamed when he was assaulted they would have helped him.
They also claim that there is a probability that he pushed the parcel up himself and said they had done everything reasonable to prevent incidents like the one in which Charles Philander was injured.
Two years ago Philander, an awaiting-trial prisoner from Ravensmead, near Cape Town, was so brutally indecently assaulted that he is likely to be incontinent for life.
The gangsters retrieved their parcel with a bent wire coathanger
On June 29, 2000 - facing charges of housebreaking, theft and attempted murder - he was transported to and from Pollsmoor and the Cape Town magistrate's court in a truck.
On the return trip he shared the truck with about 20 other prisoners. They asked him to "hide" a parcel of dagga for them. He refused. He was then allegedly held down by members of a prison gang and the parcel was forced into his rectum.
Philander said in papers before court that he was bleeding but they forced him to get dressed again.
On arrival at the prison he said he tried to get help from prison wardens.
The gangsters however told the wardens that he was mad and that he should be ignored.
'We searched the prisoners'
Philander was then locked up in a communal cell holding about 50 prisoners. He claims that he was overpowered by the gang members, who wanted to retrieve their dagga. He claims that they assaulted him, jumped on him and punched him in the stomach "to dislodge the parcel".
When nothing else worked the gangsters retrieved their parcel with a bent wire coathanger and a toothbrush.
Philander claimed that the assaults went on through the night and that he constantly screamed for help.
He is now suing the ministries of safety and security and correctional services for failing to prevent the incident and for constitutional damages as he was detained in circumstances in which his basic human rights were violated.
In their plea the police and prison officials have said that a number of reasonable measures were carried out aimed at ensuring that prisoners were kept safe and to minimise the risk of drugs and other undesirable articles being brought into prisons.
Some of the measures mentioned by the police are:
Prisoners were guarded.
Courtrooms, holding cells and other places were searched.
Prisoners of "similar category" were transported together.
They claim that Philander did not complain about the assault and say that they could see no visible sign of injuries until the next morning.
As an alternative, they plead that Philander either pushed the dagga up his own rectum or had somebody do it.
Correctional services say they did everything possible to prevent the attack on Philander.
"We searched the prisoners, we guarded them, we searched their cell and we escorted them to their cell."
They continue to say that their wardens did not hear any screams, even though they patrolled the section near Philander's cell regularly. They say that they gave him a chance to complain and he did not say anything.
EWWWWWWWWW i wonder if it was his toothbrush...
The police and correctional services are opposing his legal action saying that if he screamed when he was assaulted they would have helped him.
They also claim that there is a probability that he pushed the parcel up himself and said they had done everything reasonable to prevent incidents like the one in which Charles Philander was injured.
Two years ago Philander, an awaiting-trial prisoner from Ravensmead, near Cape Town, was so brutally indecently assaulted that he is likely to be incontinent for life.
The gangsters retrieved their parcel with a bent wire coathanger
On June 29, 2000 - facing charges of housebreaking, theft and attempted murder - he was transported to and from Pollsmoor and the Cape Town magistrate's court in a truck.
On the return trip he shared the truck with about 20 other prisoners. They asked him to "hide" a parcel of dagga for them. He refused. He was then allegedly held down by members of a prison gang and the parcel was forced into his rectum.
Philander said in papers before court that he was bleeding but they forced him to get dressed again.
On arrival at the prison he said he tried to get help from prison wardens.
The gangsters however told the wardens that he was mad and that he should be ignored.
'We searched the prisoners'
Philander was then locked up in a communal cell holding about 50 prisoners. He claims that he was overpowered by the gang members, who wanted to retrieve their dagga. He claims that they assaulted him, jumped on him and punched him in the stomach "to dislodge the parcel".
When nothing else worked the gangsters retrieved their parcel with a bent wire coathanger and a toothbrush.
Philander claimed that the assaults went on through the night and that he constantly screamed for help.
He is now suing the ministries of safety and security and correctional services for failing to prevent the incident and for constitutional damages as he was detained in circumstances in which his basic human rights were violated.
In their plea the police and prison officials have said that a number of reasonable measures were carried out aimed at ensuring that prisoners were kept safe and to minimise the risk of drugs and other undesirable articles being brought into prisons.
Some of the measures mentioned by the police are:
Prisoners were guarded.
Courtrooms, holding cells and other places were searched.
Prisoners of "similar category" were transported together.
They claim that Philander did not complain about the assault and say that they could see no visible sign of injuries until the next morning.
As an alternative, they plead that Philander either pushed the dagga up his own rectum or had somebody do it.
Correctional services say they did everything possible to prevent the attack on Philander.
"We searched the prisoners, we guarded them, we searched their cell and we escorted them to their cell."
They continue to say that their wardens did not hear any screams, even though they patrolled the section near Philander's cell regularly. They say that they gave him a chance to complain and he did not say anything.
EWWWWWWWWW i wonder if it was his toothbrush...
