‘Dragging cops’ sentenced to 15 years each
Ilse de Lange, The Citizen reports: The eight former Daveyton policemen who dragged Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia behind a police van, causing his death, have been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment each.
Judge Bert Bam said he accepted that life imprisonment would not be appropriate in light of the fact that the accused were on duty, all had exemplary service records and that Macia’s conduct that day had been provocative.
He however described their conduct in dragging Macia behind a police van and then further assaulting the already seriously injured and helpless man in the cells as barbaric.
The judge earlier ruled that all of the policemen had known Macia was being dragged and realised he could be seriously injured and die, but did nothing to assist him.
He sentenced former policemen Meshack Malele, Thamsanqa Ngema, Percy Mnisi, Bongamusa Mdluli, Sipho Ngobeni, Lungisa Gwababa, Bngani Kolisi and Linda Sololo to long terms of imprisonment for murdering Macia in February 2013.
Macia died alone in a cell at the Daveyton police station, several hours after being handcuffed to the inside of a police van and dragged through the streets of Daveyton.
A pathologist testified that he had sustained multiple soft tissue injuries which resulted in a lack of oxygen and his death.
The doctor said many of the injuries were the result of blunt force violence and Macia had probably been kicked on his private parts.
The accused were arrested after a video of the incident went viral, causing international outrage about police brutality.
Bam earlier found that Macia’s arrest for obstructing traffic had been unlawful and that the subsequent attempts to get the fiercely resistant Macia into the back of the police van amounted to assault, as he had the right to resist arrest.
He said it was clear that Macia was arrested to punish him for being rude to the police.
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