Eveline de Klerk
Walvis Bay-The Russian marine pilot, 56-year old Alexander Krylov, who is accused of human trafficking, rape and engaging in immoral acts with minors under the age of 16, had his bail hearing remanded until today in order for his lawyer to ascertain the grounds on which the State is opposing his bail.
Krylov, who was arrested last month, as well as his co-accused, 27-year-old Anna Maria Engelbrecht who allegedly recruited the minors for Krylov initially had their bail hearing scheduled for yesterday. However, the duo’s lawyer, Marinus Scholtz requested that the matter be remanded until Wednesday.
According to Scholtz, they had a small issue with the state prosecutor, Theresia Hafeni, with regard to the charge sheet, as well as the grounds on which State is opposing bail for the duo. “It seems that the State is not forthcoming,” Scholtz said.
However, Hafeni indicated the charges against the accused were not given in writing, but she and Scholtz had discussed it in detail and that he did not have an issue with it at the time.
“I have communicated the grounds already to the accused persons’ defence and explained to them that I cannot hand over the file, as it consists of very sensitive information of key witness that are in fact minors,” she explained.
Hafeni then indicated that the grounds on which State opposed bail were that Krylov and Engelbrecht had indeed committed a serious offence, due to the heightened level of public interest in the case, and that they were also facing possible conviction.
Scholtz responded that he understood the State’s concerns, however he needed dates and circumstances around the alleged crimes, as there are previous offenses noted as well. “I have to take instructions from my clients based on this and also to acquaint myself with some of the charges,” he said.
The bail hearing was then postponed by Magistrate John Sindano until 10h30 today.
Krylov is accused of engaging in sexual activities with five girls, aged between 15 and 16 years for about 16 months at Walvis Bay. His alleged sexual crimes came to light in September when a parent of an alleged victim noticed that her daughter went missing for several days at a time without valid explanation. The girl later confessed that Krylov picked them up at Kuisebmond and took them to his flat in town, where the alleged sexual crimes took place.