Joseph CHIDI, whose trial was reopened in June, has failed in an attempt to have his death sentence overturned. He was convicted of murder in September 1987 for his alleged part in the killing of a Tembisa councillor, Gideon Moeng, in May 1986. In March this year the Bloemfontein Court of Appeal ordered the re-opening in order to re-examine a key witness whose evidence had condemned Chidi. The witness, Joseph CHABEDI, who was himself once charged with Moeng's killing, had retracted this evidence saying he was beaten, kicked and partially suffocated by police. He was then ordered to make a statement implicating Chidi or risk being shot dead. After giving evidence at the re-opened trial Chabedi was arrested on 7 June and charged with perjury.
Justice le Grange, who had sentenced Chidi to death, presided over the re-opened trial alongside two assessors. He accepted the defence argument that Chabedi was a liar but concluded therefore that his retraction was a lie. He speculated about whether Chabedi was 'the author of the scheme or an instrument of the others' concerning the application to re-open the trial. Lawyers for Human Rights initiated the move after Chabedi approached the Witwatersrand Council of Churches about his evidence.
Chidi maintained his absolute innocence throughout both trials and said only — 'I have nothing to say because I did nothing'. Lawyers hope to appeal against conviction and sentence.
