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The three accused in the Joshlin Smith kidnapping trial seen appearing before court.
The Western Cape High Court sitting at Saldanha Bay on the West Coast is expected to rule today in a trial within a trial to determine the admissibility of two of the accused’s statements in Joshlin Smith’s disappearance case.
Jacquen Appollis and Steveno Van Rhyn allege that they were tortured into making confessions.
Appollis and Van Rhyn gave their statements between March 4 and 5 last year. They, however, contend that their statements were given under duress and that they were tortured by police into making the so-called confessions.
The pair, along with the child’s mother, Kelly Smith, are on trial for her disappearance in February last year.
During his cross-examination yesterday, accused number two, Van Rhyn, told the court that he was beaten repeatedly by police officers.
He says a plastic bag was placed over his head and he was assaulted.
“From the onset, they would ask me a question, I would tell them that I don’t know. Then they would be busy hitting me on my hand, knees and my feet. I would scream. I would tell them that I’m getting sore. They said I must tell them the truth.”
