A Chinese national, who wants his criminal cases relating to the alleged purchase of illegal ivory and receiving of stolen goods to be heard by a Pretoria court.
He claims the legal system in the Western Cape has failed him and has now turned to the Equality Court as he feels that lawyers and judges in that province are discriminating against him.
Xiong Changsen, despite having earlier pleaded guilty to the charges against him, also demanded an apology from the Justice Minister for the way he said he was treated.
Apart from this, Changsen is asking for US$30 million (R540m )in compensation for injury to his dignity, lost income and unlawful incarceration.
Forming part of his application before the Equality Court, sitting at the Western Cape High Court, is a judicial review of the two criminal trials concluded against him and the setting aside of the two convictions against him.
He claimed that he is being unfairly discriminated against by the criminal justice system on the basis of his nationality and language. He said he could not properly communicate with the authorities from the time of his arrest, up to his convictions.
He complained that he was arrested twice in 2008 and once in 2011. Warning statements were taken from him, but no interpreter was present to advise him of his procedural rights, he said.
He is also upset about all the previous legal representatives who acted for him in the two criminal matters.
According to Changsen, he did not voluntarily plead guilty to these offences. Judge Eduard Wille commented that this must be considered in the context of his concession that an interpreter was present during this process.
He further claims that he was not actively allowed to participate during the court processes that unfolded in the lower courts and said that he was racially profiled because of his nationality.
He wants his case to be heard in another province – preferably Pretoria – because “all the lawyers in this province have failed him, and the entire system of justice in this province has failed him”.
Changsen said he also feared reprisals from the locally-based police. He threatens international media coverage if he is not vindicated and will resort to telling his story on social media.
The angry Changsen said he now viewed all prosecutors, lawyers and judges with suspicion. He feared for his life and safety and that of his family. “At the same time, he admits that there was a ‘measure of culpability’ on his part for purchasing elephant ivory illegally,” the judge noted.
While it was not entirely clear exactly what his complaints entailed, the judge said it seemed that he was complaining that his right to privacy was infringed and that he was assaulted by the SAPS.
He also complained that his house was searched without a warrant and that he was never told about the charges against him in detail. But the judge pointed out that Changsen was at all times legally represented.
Judge Wille, in turning down the application, said in this case, no parallel proceedings were pending in the high court. “When the court determines a matter following the equality legislation (with no parallel proceedings pending), it cannot also sit as an ordinary high court.”
The judge added that the applicant's only complaint that may attract the jurisdiction of this court was the allegation that he was unfairly discriminated against based on race, ethnicity, and language.
“The applicant still needs to set up an evidential basis for these averments. It must be so that allegations that lack specificity do not equate to establishing a prima facie case against the respondents.”
Thus, the judge said, the alleged acts of unfair discrimination did not attract this court’s jurisdiction.
Pretoria News