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Accused in KZN mosque attack, bombs scares to appear in court

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Nineteen people accused of a fatal attack at a KwaZulu-Natal Shia mosque and the placement of several explosive devices at Durban shopping centres are expected to appear before the Verulam Family Court on Monday.

Their case was postponed for seven days when they appeared in court last Tuesday to allow the Hawks to conduct the ID parade.

The 19 accused appeared in camera (in private) in the same court last Monday and Tuesday. The court ordered that their names, nationalities, age and gender cannot be published at this stage.

The media and the public were also barred from attending the case.

The accused face 14 charges including murder, attempted murder, arson, extortion and the violation of Pocdatara (The Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Act).

Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the charges related to 11 cases.

Mulaudzi said they expected the accused’s lawyers to apply for bail on Monday.

Various items were confiscated when the accused were arrested, including a ready-made incendiary device.

Mulaudzi said someone who was allegedly found chained and malnourished inside a dungeon in one of the houses where the accused were arrested, was recuperating well at a Durban hospital.

He did not give further information for “security reasons”.

In May this year, the Imam Hussain Mosque in Ottawa, Verulam, north of Durban, was attacked by three knife-wielding men.

Abbas Essop died during the attack, while Imam Ali Nchiyane and caretaker Mohammed Ali survived the attack on the mosque attended by Shia Muslims.

[Source: News24]
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