By Kaya 959 Reporter
South African police have tracked down a wanted international convict who was hiding out in Durban.
Local police managed to arrest a Portuguese national who escaped from a Portugal prison at the weekend.
Police say Joao Manuel de Oliveira Rendeiro absconded from Portugal after being convicted on a multi-million dollar fraud case.
A Portuguese court had sentenced him to 12 years imprisonment before he escaped.
National SAPS spokesperson, Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo, says police found Joao Manuel de Oliveira Rendeiro hiding out in Umhlanga Rocks.
Portugal’s Judicial Police head, Luis Neves, brought the matter to the attention of National Police Commissioner, General Khehla John Sitole.
They discussed the escapee during a bilateral meeting at the 89th Interpol General Assembly in Istanbul in Turkey last month.
“General Sitole committed to tracking and tracing the fugitive after it emerged that he may be hiding in South Africa,” Naidoo says.
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Red Notice issued
Naidoo says members from the Interpol NCB in Pretoria, acting on an Interpol Red Notice, traced the fugitive to a location in Umhlanga Rocks. Police arrested the man at 7am on Saturday morning.
He is believed to have travelled to SA in September after a stint in the United Kingdom.
In a post on his blog, De Oliveira Rendeiro said he would not return to Portugal as he felt “wronged” by his country.
After stating his version of the circumstances leading to his arrest, he said his absence is an act of self-defense.
“In this context, my absence is an act of self-defense against unfair justice. I take responsibility within the framework of the banking acts I practiced, but I am not subject, without resistance, to this violence. I will resort to international instances, as there is a Law above what is considered to be the Law in Portugal,” he wrote.
De Oliveira Rendeiro added: “I will fight for my freedom to be able to do so.”
Naidoo says the fugitive will appear for the first time in Durban’s Verulam Magistrate’s Court on Monday. The court proceedings are part of his extradition process.
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