COURT BLOCKS CAMP DAVID PICS

The Pretoria High Court has blocked a newspaper from publishing pictures taken of nude patrons during the recent police raid on the Camp David bar.

The venue’s owners – Gerard Rissik and Daniel Hamman – made an urgent application to the court to have the warrant used in the raid set aside, and that the video and images taken during the event not be published.

While Judge Francis Legodi agreed to bar the publishing of the pictures, he dismissed the application for the moment with regard to the warrant – ruling that the application was not urgent.

The pictures were taken by a reporter for Rekord, a community newspaper, and are said to show the club’s patrons naked. Cape David is billed a nude gay bar.

The owners have accused the police of harassment, saying that their club is a private venue and that the authorities had no business raiding it. The police have confiscated adult DVDs and substances which they claim are drugs. The owners refute this saying that they are legal sexual stimulants.

Rissik and Hamman have also accused the police of verbal abuse during the raid. “They had no right to say those things to people” Hamman told Mambaonline, “Things like, ‘You’re a moffie because your father gave you a blowjob’,” he says.

Rissik told the court that the arrested patrons were not given a reason for their arrest. They were later charged with public indecency.

The search and seizure warrant for the raid was issued with the purpose of “ensuring the safety of the Pretoria public”. The owners have questioned how their venue and their activities in any way affect the safety of the public.

The application has now been postponed to 14 February, “We’re still pursuing it,” says Hamman, who insists that the police acted inappropriately and without cause.