A police officer investigating the terror-accused Thulsie twins testified that he received information in November that one of them was in the process of building an explosive device and was looking for a trigger mechanism to set it off.
Warrant Officer Wynand Olivier was appearing in the case of Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie in the Johannesburg Magistrates Court on Monday.
The brothers have made an application to have their arrest declared unlawful‚ saying they were taken into custody by police officers without warrants.
The Thulsies face three counts of terrorism relating to alleged attempts to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State (IS) terror group and alleged plans to attack US and Jewish interests in SA.
Olivier said he had been tracing the activities of the twins and Ronaldo Smit from May last year‚ after he was informed that they had tried to fly to Turkey and then to Syria to join IS.
Olivier also said he received information from overseas agencies in November regarding threats in South Africa
“Later on‚ we received information that there were certain targets picked and that the targets had been identified by ‘Simba’. It became clear that ‘Simba’ was in the process of building an explosive device and was looking for a trigger mechanism to set off the device‚” Olivier said.
Olivier said he applied for and obtained search warrants in July to search the premises of the Thulsie brothers and Smit.
He said the reason for the warrants was to obtain further information and evidence.
Olivier said he was present when the search warrant was executed at Smit’s premises and he asked him about his involvement and who “Simba” was.
Smit told Olivier that he was no longer involved in that life as he had recently got married‚ revealed that “Simba” was Tony-Lee Thulsie‚ and confirmed they had wanted to leave SA for Syria.
Olivier said Smit told him he was aware of the planned attacks and was trying to convince Tony-Lee not to be involved.
The case continues. — TMG Digital
Thulsie twin was looking for a trigger to set off bomb‚ court hears
A police officer investigating the terror-accused Thulsie twins testified that he received information in November that one of them was in the process of building an explosive device and was looking for a trigger mechanism to set it off.
Warrant Officer Wynand Olivier was appearing in the case of Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie in the Johannesburg Magistrates Court on Monday.
The brothers have made an application to have their arrest declared unlawful‚ saying they were taken into custody by police officers without warrants.
The Thulsies face three counts of terrorism relating to alleged attempts to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State (IS) terror group and alleged plans to attack US and Jewish interests in SA.
Olivier said he had been tracing the activities of the twins and Ronaldo Smit from May last year‚ after he was informed that they had tried to fly to Turkey and then to Syria to join IS.
Olivier also said he received information from overseas agencies in November regarding threats in South Africa
“Later on‚ we received information that there were certain targets picked and that the targets had been identified by ‘Simba’. It became clear that ‘Simba’ was in the process of building an explosive device and was looking for a trigger mechanism to set off the device‚” Olivier said.
Olivier said he applied for and obtained search warrants in July to search the premises of the Thulsie brothers and Smit.
He said the reason for the warrants was to obtain further information and evidence.
Olivier said he was present when the search warrant was executed at Smit’s premises and he asked him about his involvement and who “Simba” was.
Smit told Olivier that he was no longer involved in that life as he had recently got married‚ revealed that “Simba” was Tony-Lee Thulsie‚ and confirmed they had wanted to leave SA for Syria.
Olivier said Smit told him he was aware of the planned attacks and was trying to convince Tony-Lee not to be involved.
The case continues. — TMG Digital
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