‘Cops used cowboy-style tactics’

The arrest of international fugitive Radovan Krejcir in connection with an armed robbery in Pretoria, which left a close associate injured, has been blasted as biased and one-sided by his attorney.

This was the word from Krejcir’s lawyer, Piet du Plessis, hours after his client was arrested while having a late-afternoon nap at his luxury Bedfordview home on Sunday.

Lashing out at police for their “cowboy-style tactics” for the arrest of Krejcir and two of his friends, Veselin Laganin and Jason Dominguez, Du Plessis said his client was arrested for an incident in which he was an “innocent bystander”.

Krejcir’s arrest and scheduled appearance on Monday in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on charges of armed robbery, comes as he fights a R4.75 million life-insurance claim and attempts to have him extradited back to the Czech Republic where he has been convicted for fraud, kidnapping and corruption.

He is fighting the Czech government attempts to extradite him by applying for refugee status in SA.

Du Plessis was referring to was an armed robbery in October last year at an electronics store in Pretoria West.

Hours after the robbery, one of Krejcir’s friends who had been injured, was arrested at his house. The friend was later released after the prosecutor struck the case off the roll, for further investigation.

The store, according to Du Plessis, is owned by Pakistani nationals and they had dealings with one of Krejcir’s friends. He claimed that Krejcir had accompanied his friends to the store for a “discussion” with the Pakistanis.

Du Plessis said that for months since the alleged robbery, in which reports at the time claimed the store was robbed of R200 000, “we have been co-operating with the police and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions”.

The Hawks confirmed that Krejcir, Laganin and Dominguez had been arrested in raids carried out in Bedfordview, Bryanston and Sandton. - Pretoria News

• Krejcir is in custody - Hawks