From the news desk

Court to rule on media coverage for hotel murder

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Two media houses are set to apply to the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Friday for permission to take photos and videos of a Guatemalan man accused of killing American marketing executive Gabriela Kabrins Alban.

The courtroom was packed with journalists as Magistrate Grant Engel asked Diego Novella’s lawyer whether he had any objections to the requests for media coverage.

Defence lawyer William Booth said he had been contacted by lawyers for the E-Sat (eNCA) and Times Media Group. However, he only received documents in the morning; a letter from the first group and submissions from the second.

The groups referred to practice notes from the High Court in Pretoria and the extensive coverage of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius’s trial, he said.

“I have to take instructions from my client. He may be okay with it but I need to explain everything to him.”

The 41-year-old Guatemalan is accused of killing Alban, reportedly his girlfriend, at an upmarket Camps Bay hotel two weeks ago.

According to family, she is understood to have been strangled.

Members of her family were not present in court.

Booth told the magistrate it was hard to consult with clients in the court’s holding cells because conditions were “horrific” and “disgusting”.

Engel stood the matter down so the lawyer could chat to his client.

The court earlier said media groups would need to make a formal application and then he would make a ruling. News24


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