The Thulsie twins, Tony-Lee and Brandon-Lee, have been held in custody fore more than five years and when their matter returned to the Gauteng High Court’s roll on Monday, they were hit with another delay.
Thulsie twins latest news: Terror trial postponed – Here’s why
The terrorism trial has been scuppered long enough and, at Monday’s briefing, the twins’ suffered yet another delay, albeit only for 24 hours.
According to reports from eNCA‘s Heidi Giokos, the twins’ legal team wants no cameras broadcasting the high-profile case due to certain sensitivities pertaining to the charges.
While the State has no dog in this fight, no endorsement of the defence team’s objection to media coverage was heard from their bench. The Gauteng High Court, we understand, has allowed media houses 24 hours to make formal applications for coverage of the Thulsie twins terror trial, noting the inconsistency in the defence’s stance since, in the past, court proceedings were filmed on national TV.
JUST IN: Gauteng High Court has postponed the matter regarding the #ThuliseTwins to tomorrow. Twins legal team refuses to have media live broadcast or take live visuals of the matter due to the sensitivity of the matter. Judge says media must formally apply. #eNCA
— Heidi Giokos (@HeidiGiokos) January 17, 2022
The twins are expected to return to the docks on Tuesday for a ruling on the media coverage matter.
What we know about the twins case
Tony-Lee and Brandon-Lee were arrested on 9 July 2016 after a multidisciplinary team of law enforcement officials raided their home in Johannesburg.
The raid was a culmination of an intercontinental intelligence operation led by the United States’ Federal Bureau of investigation (FBI), where it was determined that the Thulsie twins, along with friend Renaldo Smith, had planned on launching terrorist attacks on the US, UK, Russia, French and Israeli embassies, Jewish individuals and interests, the South African state arms company Denel and Shi’a Muslim mosques.
Smith was never caught. It’s believed he fled to join the Islamic State (Isis) in northern Mozambique.
Evidence yielded from the intelligence operation will be the crux of the State’s case against the Thulsie twins.
From what we know so far, the FBI-led investigation uncovered the twins plans to join the jihadist group in Syria a year prior to their arrests. It’s believed the Thulsie twins, and Smith, converted to Islam in 2013 and were radicalised soon thereafter.
By April 2015, the Jamestown Foundation notes, the trio had made their first attempt at joining Isis in Syria. Flight records collected by intelligence operatives prove that the alleged terrorists had booked a flight from Johannesburg to Turkey with Qatar Airways.
However, a tip-off that came in the last minute foiled their plans and the airline declined their request. The trio, however, was not deterred. It’s believed they made a second attempt, this time looking to board a flight to Turkey from Maputo.
While the group made the 544.2km drive to Mozambique’s capital, they were refused entry to board the Kenya Airways flight.
This, the State believes, is when they’d resorted to launching their terrorist campaign on South African soil.
Phone taps of the twins allegedly colluding with high-ranking Isis officials were captured by the intel operation, where Tony-Lee was heard accepting information on which buildings to target and how to build and obtain explosive devices for carrying out the attacks.
The entire time, Tony-Lee was unaware he was colluding with undercover FBI operatives. He had unwittingly walked into the trap, and more than five years later, he and his twin brother are closer than ever to their trial.