Court chaos as diamond dealer Louis Liebenberg disrupts bail hearing

The Citizen

3 days ago

Facing over R4 billion in fraud charges, Liebenberg made bizarre allegations in court and refused to call the magistrate 'Your Worship'.
A Bronkhorspruit magistrate told notorious diamond dealer Louis Liebenberg not to raise his voice at her minutes before stopping his bail application in the Bronkhorstspruit Magistrate's Court yesterday and sending him for a doctor's checkup.
Liebenberg, his wife, Desiree Liebenberg, Magdelena Petronella Kleynhans, Johannes Petrus Badenhorst, Helena Dorothea Amy Schulenburg, Adriaan Dewald Strydom, Christelle Badenhorst, Nicolize van Heerden and Walter Niendinger are accused of more than R4 billion in fraud.
They face 42 counts of fraud (alternatively theft), five counts of racketeering, six counts of money laundering and various statutory offences, including contraventions of the Companies Act.
Liebenberg claims he's being bullied
Liebenberg was sent for medical observation during his bail application after getting into a heated debate with the magistrate and making various accusations against the magistrate, the court and even the minister of correctional services.
'They took me to the head of the prison, where I acted and I heard Pieter Groenewald's voice on the phone,' he said
'You know Groenewald talks a bit retarded, you can hear it's him, you can clearly hear it's him. He said give that man a hard time in prison,' he said.
'That evening, at 10 o'clock, 11 guys dressed in civil clothing and balaclavas came and put their fingers in my ass, looking for a cellphone. Obviously, they didn't find a phone,' he said.
Liebenberg said he was being bullied by the state, bullied in prison, bullied by police, bullied by the liquidators, bullied by specialist investigator Mike Bolhuis and bullied by the press.
'I am being bullied by everybody,' he said.
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Back and forth with magistrate
Liebenberg and the magistrate got into a heated exchange when he insisted on talking about what happened in court on 23 July.
'I wasn't allowed a piece of paper until today. Do you want me to put my case in front of the court and once I come here, we end up in an argument and a pi**ing contest? It's a testosterone-driven conversation,' he said.
Liebenberg and the magistrate exchanged harsh words, after which Liebenberg sat down and refused to continue with his bail application because he said the magistrate was biased.
'When I'm speaking, allow me to finish, then you can put up a stop stream. You have to show the same kind of respect that I am showing,' Liebenberg said.
'Yes, I am sure, you sound like my mother. Just leave me so that I can speak, please,' he answered the magistrate before sitting down with his head in his hands.
More accusations and complaints
He accused the magistrate of being biased and of enjoying the media attention on the case.
Liebenberg also complained about conditions in the C-Max prison, where inmates were held at the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre in Pretoria.
He said there were rats bigger than cats in the basement cells. 'They run over your body at night, that happens,' he said.
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Liebenberg said he had lost 42kg in prison and went down from 130kg to 88kg. 'I can't even walk 50 metres,' he said.
Refusal to say 'Your Worship'
He continued with his accusations and was stopped when he started talking about needing to eat brown bread instead of white and even told the magistrate that he was not comfortable calling her Your Worship.
'The Bible says clearly that I cannot worship anybody except God. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
'We got this thing from Your Worship and Your Honour from England. It doesn't mean that I don't have respect. I have a problem with calling someone Your Worship.
'Where does it come from? We are in Africa with potholes and falling apart,' he said.
Deteriorating health claims
Liebenberg continued to talk about his deteriorating health and referred to acute attacks of gout and being stopped by the prison authorities from going on a hunger strike.
The magistrate stopped Liebenberg when he again referred to the correctional services minister and asked the investigating officer to explain the bail application process to him again.
She then referred him to the regional medical doctor to see if he was fit to follow the court proceedings, or be taken for observation.
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