NPA explains why Adam Catzavelos can be charged in SA for Greece video

28 May 2019 - 10:15 By nonkululeko njilo
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Adam Catzavelos arrives at the Randburg magistrate's court on Tuesday over his racist video that went viral last year.
Adam Catzavelos arrives at the Randburg magistrate's court on Tuesday over his racist video that went viral last year.
Image: ALON SKUY/Sunday Times

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Tuesday it believes that Adam Catzavelos, the man who caused an uproar after using the k-word in a video, had a case to answer in SA, despite the alleged offence being committed in Greece.

"Firstly what informs a prosecutor, whether or not a matter should be placed on the roll, is we first have to detect if there are prospects of a successful prosecution," said the NPA's spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane.

"Now that has been done, the issue of jurisdiction is a matter that will be ventilated at court and the prosecutor who decided on the matter was well aware that this issue will obviously come up and has prepared an argument that will be heard in court." 

Catzavelos briefly appeared at the Randburg magistrate's court on a count of crimen injuria on Tuesday morning.

On arrival at the court he maintained a serious expression, looked straight ahead and walked briskly dressed in a bright scarf and dark glasses.

He is expected back in court in June 13.

Adam Catzavelos appeared in the Randburg Magistrate's Court on May 28 2019 on a charge of crimen injuria. The case follows the emergence of a video last year in which Catzavelos used the k-word when expressing joy that there were no black people on a beach in Greece. Now, the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has opened a hate speech case against him in the Equality Court.​


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