Durban court finds arrest of attorney and prosecutor unlawful after it was done without warrant

Durban court rules unlawful arrest of attorney and prosecutor.

The Regional Court in Durban has ruled that the arrest and detention of attorney Shabeer Goolabjith and prosecutor Kelvin Raymond Munsamy were unlawful, finding that police acted without legal authority when they arrested the pair in connection with a corruption investigation.

In a recent judgment, acting Regional Court Magistrate Fiona Seedat held that the Minister of Police failed to justify the arrests and detention of the two men, who had sued the state for damages arising from their arrest in August 2019.

The case stemmed from a corruption investigation that originated during a separate fraud probe conducted by police in 2016. During a search of Goolabjith's legal offices, investigators seized electronic devices and later discovered WhatsApp messages that they believed suggested corrupt dealings between Goolabjith and Munsamy.

Based on those messages, police opened a corruption case and referred the matter to the Provincial Anti-Corruption Unit. The investigation was conducted in collaboration with prosecutors from the Director of Public Prosecutions' office.