Sentencing of David Olyne’s murderer delayed again
The sentencing of the man responsible for the gay hate murder of David Olyne has been postponed for the second time.
In January, Christo Oncke was found guilty of killing Olyne by the Western Cape High Court in Ceres.
He beat and kicked the tied-up 22-year-old to death in March 2014 as a group of young locals watched on. Olyne’s wire-bound body was also set on fire.
Triangle Project reported on Tuesday that Onkers’ sentencing was postponed for the second time.
It had first been set for 22 February, but was delayed to 1 March. Due to the judge in the matter being ill, it has now been postponed till 18 April, a move that has been criticised by the LGBTI rights group.
Triangle staff travelled for over two hours from Cape Town to attend the sentencing and waited for some time at the court before being informed of the postponement.
“These delays, added to the poor investigation and prosecution of this case are part of the complex set of reasons which stop LGBTI people reporting crimes committed against them – and embolden perpetrators of these crimes to act without fear of punishment,” said the group.
Triangle has previously stated that it believes that two other people, in addition to Oncke, were likely involved in the killing and that they have gotten away with murder.
Triangle has also slammed the police’s investigation, accusing the authorities of oversight, a lack of thorough investigation, and of not following up on leads and witnesses it provided.
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