State to oppose LSB #IShallNotForget application
Mpho Mokwape | Thursday May 19, 2016 11:44
The LSB wants to join the proceedings as friends of the court following the campaign’s urgent application filed on Saturday. The campaign seeks an order against the police for denying them a permit that would allow them to march against child abuse.
The LSB maintained that they seek to vindicate one of its objectives; the protection of rule of law and human rights.
However, yesterday before Justice Gaolapelwe Ketlogetswe, as the main application was to be heard, Attorney General Chambers lawyer, Oaitse Rammidi representing the police, said they were likely to oppose the LSB application.
Rammidi said it was only fair that they be given time to read the LSB papers and the points of law they were raising before they decide anything.
“At this time we have not seen any court papers of the LSB, but we will likely oppose the application nonetheless,” he said.
Earlier on, the main application was postponed after both parties indicated that they had not filed their papers. The postponement was also to allow the LSB application to be heard first.
Both parties were ordered to have filed their papers before end of business yesterday and the AG to file their heads of argument this morning.
Meanwhile, the court proceedings of the #IShallNotForget campaign come after they were denied a permit by the police to march against the sexual abuse of children last week. The campaigners approached the High Court to vindicate their right of freedom of assembly, association and expression as enshrined in the constitution.
They are seeking to compel police to issue the permit for a march, the matter to be ruled urgent, and the decision of the police officer to be declared invalid.
The main contention of the movement, Women and Men Against all Sexual Abuse of Children, is that the officer took into account irrelevant factors, outside the requirements of the Public Order Act. The movement is the one pushing the #IShallNotForget campaign, which at the time of last week’s demonstrations had 16,943 members, but had already doubled to over 34,000 members by press time yesterday.