BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

17/01/2010

A tough week for Dirk in Belarus court

Hanti Otto

Dirk Prinsloo spent hours watching porn on his computer - but never child porn, according to a former girlfriend and mother of his baby daughter.

It was this habit that led to his arrest on June 12.

The former South African advocate, notorious for his antics with Cezanne Visser, also known as Advocate Barbie, has just spent a week in the Baranovichi High Court in Belarus.

Prinsloo, who was standing trial with Visser on sex-related charges, was on the run from South African authorities after skipping bail and was on Interpol's wanted list when he was arrested in the eastern European country.

He is accused of stealing a necklace from another former girlfriend, Svetlana Vasily; torturing and threatening to kill a former lover known as Anastasia; the attempted robbery of a branch of the Bank of Belarus on June 10; and hooliganism, for allegedly assaulting a woman while fleeing the bank.

He was caught two days later at an internet cafe in Minsk, while e-mailing a girlfriend that he was going to flee to Russia.

Prinsloo refused to plead to the charges on Monday, claiming that he had not consulted his advocate yet. But he denied any knowledge of the theft, torture and threat of murder charges on Friday.

He "partially admitted guilt" - a plea option in Belarus - to the attempted robbery, saying he was in emotional turmoil at the time because of his financial problems.

He also apologised to Belarus, South Africa and the female employees at the bank.

The court heard evidence similar to what Visser testified in her trial, which she faced alone after Prinsloo skipped bail and fled to Russia in 2006. Visser was found guilty on 11 charges last year.

He said Vasily was scared that he could be killed if he returned, but he feared imprisonment for "crimes I did not commit".

So the couple decided to move to Belarus, neighbouring Russia, to start a new life.

The necklace Vasily claimed that he had stolen was one he had bought for Visser, Prinsloo said.

But their relationship deteriorated because of the South African court case, so he never gave it to her and instead took it to Russia to sell.

He claimed that he was on the brink of bankruptcy because of the trial in his home country.

Judge Vasily Petriv asked how he got the necklace, valued at nearly E5 000, into Russia.

Prinsloo said his bags were checked, but no one questioned him about it.

According to Prinsloo, this necklace was very similar to the one three of his former girlfriends had described to police.

"There are many reasons why Svetla will lie about the necklace. She had an internet affair with a Swedish guy while pregnant with my son. It upset me very much. She and this guy knew that Interpol wanted me," Prinsloo said.

He added that although all the women claimed that he introduced himself as Michael Grant, an Australian businessman, at least two of them, including Vasily, had his real names tattooed on their private parts.

Prinsloo said Vasily and her Swedish boyfriend threatened to sell him out to Interpol if he demanded contact with his son.

He then dated Tatiana Leshko, who bore him a daughter. According to Prinsloo, Leshko acted as intermediary between him and Vasily.

"I never knew Tatiana asked Svetla for money for me. I never got the money. I just one day heard Svetla is angry as I haven't paid her back, so she is laying this charge to get back at me," he said.

Prinsloo said Vasily was also upset that he gave the necklace to Leshko. He said the women gave the same description of the necklace, as they were guided by police.

Referring to the charges laid by Anastasia, Prinsloo said the time they lived together was the worst of his life.

"She is an extremely manipulative and possessive person. I made the mistake of having sex with her. She wanted it at least six times a day, and I didn't really want to have sex with her," Prinsloo said.

This was in stark contrast to Anastasia's evidence that Prinsloo saw himself as a god, and her as his slave.

He claimed that she, too, had his real names tattooed on her private parts, and his Interpol picture tattooed on her abdomen.

He kept contact with Leshko while in other relationships. When he moved back to Baranovichi, she found him a flat and paid for it.

Prinsloo felt that she betrayed him to police, as she knew of the bank robbery. Leshko testified that she never thought that he was serious, and would always feel guilty for not raising the alarm when she saw him entering the bank.

This 23-year-old woman testified that Prinsloo gave her the necklace to sell. Although the two tried to run a balloon business, she ended up running it alone while pregnant, as Prinsloo was spent hours in front of the computer.

"I knew he watched porn, but never child porn, that I know of. But after Ksenia, our daughter, was born, I had to keep working.

"One of the main reasons I broke up with him was because I was dissatisfied with his behaviour as a father."

Leshko said she would return from work to find Prinsloo in front of the computer, while Ksenia lay crying in the bedroom.

She learnt Prinsloo's true identity only after his arrest, she said.

However, there had been things that had made her wonder. "He would talk about the 'president' of Australia, or how he had fought in Angola. These things just did not make sense for someone who really came from Australia," she said after she had testified.

Over the past week Prinsloo and Judge Petriv locked horns several times.

Prinsloo wanted to cross-examine witnesses, which is done in South Africa, but is not permitted in Belarus.

The judge also felt that Prinsloo was argumentative, and warned him several times that he could be removed from court if he "continued to disrupt the court order".

This happened on Thursday. But Prinsloo was back in court - in the cage that serves as the dock for alleged dangerous criminals - on Friday.

After Prinsloo claimed that he had been tortured by police and that the women were told what to testify, Petriv ordered an investigation. In addition, some witnesses who had been summonsed did not attend the trial. The judge ordered that they be brought to court on January 26, when the trial resumes.

Source:

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20100117091348780C476291


Partners:
Face.by Social Network
Face.by