Puppet causes laughter in court

LazyLion

LazyLion

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Ventriloquist Conrad Koch arrived with his puppet "Chester Missing" at the Randburg Magistrate's Court in Johannesburg on Thursday to oppose an interim protection order against him.

"Why are we here?" Missing asked Koch as photographers and television cameras focused on him.

"We are here because you say things on Twitter," Koch said to Missing.

Dressed in a striped suit and red and white tie, Missing looked at journalists, and then turned to Koch.

"Me? No its you... I don't write my tweets!

"We need to consult... where is our lawyer Dario [Milo]? Our lawyer's name sounds like a drink! Who gets represented by a hot chocolate?" said the puppet, rousing giggles among journalists and onlookers.

Missing was brought into the courtroom followed by cameras.

"What a lot of wood..." he said as he looked around the courtroom decor.

Koch is challenging Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr's interim protection order against him.

Hofmeyr secured a court order earlier this month against Koch to prevent his puppet from "harassing" the singer on Twitter.

The order prevents Koch from threatening, harassing, or making defamatory statements against Hofmeyr.

He was also not allowed to tag him on social media websites or mention him in television and radio interviews.

Two of Koch's opinion pieces were blacked out in Sunday's City Press, one written by himself and one as Missing.

Hofmeyr said in a tweet on October 23: "Sorry to offend but in my book blacks were the architects of apartheid. Go figure."

In a column in The Times titled "Dear white supremacists..." Koch questioned supermarket group Pick n Pay and Land Rover sponsoring the "Afrikaans is Groot" festival, at which Hofmeyr would perform.

Hofmeyr recently had a sponsored bakkie withdrawn by Williams Hunt in Port Elizabeth after the tweet.

Hofmeyr has previously created controversy by singing the full version of "Die Stem" at his shows.

The song was composed by poet CJ Langenhoven but is better known as the apartheid-era national anthem.

A reworked excerpt was included in the new national anthem after the 1994 democratic elections.

Hofmeyr was not in court.


Source : Sapa /gm/jk
Date : 27 Nov 2014 10:03
 
JUDGE BANS TWEETING DURING KOCH, HOFMEYR CASE

Tweeting and live broadcasts from inside court were prohibited by the magistrate hearing the case between Conrad Koch and Steve Hofmeyr in the Randburg Magistrate's Court in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Magistrate Naren Sewnarain made this ruling in response to a media application to broadcast proceedings between ventriloquist and puppeteer Koch and Afrikaans singer Hofmeyr, according to a Sapa reporter filing from outside the court.

The case turns on an interim order Hofmeyr secured on November 10 after Koch responded on Twitter to one of his tweets.

Koch, who is known for his satirical interviews with politicians through his puppet "Chester Missing", is opposing the order being made final.

Hofmeyr said in a tweet on October 23: "Sorry to offend but in my books blacks were the architects of apartheid. Go figure."

In response, Koch penned a column published by The Times titled "Dear white supremacists..." and asked why sponsors associated with Hofmeyr, such as Land Rover and Pick n Pay, were still sponsoring him.

During a Twitter war on the subject Hofmeyr secured the interim order which prevents Koch from threatening, harassing, or making defamatory statements against him.

He was also not allowed to tag him on social media websites like Twitter or mention him in television and radio interviews.

Hofmeyr said that until Koch explained the "hate speech" in court on Thursday, the ventriloquist was not allowed to contact him, his sponsors or his business partners directly or indirectly, said Beeld newspaper.

Hofmeyr recently had a sponsored bakkie withdrawn by Williams Hunt in Port Elizabeth after the tweet.


Source : Sapa /gm/jje/ks/jk
Date : 27 Nov 2014 11:31
 
First our parliament and now our courts are turning into circuses... :p
 
The tweets (before they are banned) are hilarious. Dan Roodt is such a feking idiot.

Follow here: https://twitter.com/Eusebius

Roodt's further evidence of @conradkoch's radicalism is that he's a "leftie" who's "intellecually demure"! :) #PuppetTrial

Eusebius McKaiser @Eusebius · 16m 16 minutes ago
Dan Roodt then tells he court that @conradkoch is a "radical individual". His evidence? You can tel by his "demeanour"

Favourite moment so far? Dan Roodt reminding court @chestermissing called Steve Hofmeyr a "dicktroll". #PuppetTrial
 
meanwhile while waiting to go back into court chestermissing starts chanting #paybackthemoney. Roodt is right. This thing is radical
Click to expand...

I found this tweet quite amusing.
 
I don't agree with this guy making the puppet "talk" in court. It makes a mockery of the court and shows contempt. imho
 
I don't think that the protection order will be upheld for two reasons:

1. I don't think Conrad Koch truly harassed Steve Hofmeyr; as a public figure who makes politically charged statements, Steve Hofmeyr opens himself up for criticism.

2. Steve Hofmeyr doesn't have an actual lawyer representing him, but rather Dan Roodt, who, while highly educated, is not a lawyer. Non-lawyers usually rely too heavily on common sense and do poorly at giving legally solid arguments (which are often not very sensical).

As for Chester Missing, I wonder how coloured people feel about him.
 
MISSING DEFAMED HOFMEYR, COURT HEARS

Puppet Chester Missing and puppeteer Conrad Koch attacked and defamed Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr on social media, the Randburg Magistrate's Court heard on Thursday.

"The respondent (Missing and Koch) is attacking and defaming Steve as a person, ... and Steve is a member of the minority which is suffering extreme violence in this country," said Hofmeyr's representative Daniel Roodt.

Roodt, who is not a lawyer, had brought an application for an interdict on behalf of Hofmeyr earlier this month.

Missing and Koch, represented by advocate Steven Budlender, are challenging the interim court order against him.

Roodt said Hofmeyr could not be in court as he was attending to a series of concerts in Cape Town.

Magistrate Naren Sewnarain asked Roodt why the interim order should be made permanent.

Roodt said defamatory remarks were made against Hofmeyr on Twitter.

Koch has his own Twitter account, and one in the name of his puppet.

He is known for taking digs at politicians in interviews conducted through the puppet on a political commentary and satire show Late Night News with Loyisa Gola. The puppet also conducts roving interviews at political events.

Hofmeyr tweeted on October 23: "Sorry to offend but in my books blacks were the architects of apartheid. Go figure."

In a column in The Times titled "Dear white supremacists..." Koch questioned supermarket group Pick n Pay and Land Rover for sponsoring the "Afrikaans is Groot" festival, at which Hofmeyr would perform.

This sparked a Twitter war and the court action.

"The fact that this court granted an interim order, showed that there was a prima facie case of harassment," said Roodt.

He said the court should hold a hearing on contempt of court by Missing.

"The respondent's conduct during the past few days is in contempt of court...he was acting as if the court order does not exist."

Sewnarian said he was not interested in the contempt of court argument. Roodt read out a tweet in which Missing said Hofmeyr has a venereal disease.

"The respondent imagines he is somewhere in the USA where there is a flow of freedom of speech.. I don't know if Hofmeyr has a venereal disease, at 99 percent I would say he doesn't...but to publish that constitutes gross defamation," Roodt said.

Roodt struggled to get through his paperwork during his arguments.

Missing/Koch's legal team helped him and offered him copies of documents he seemingly did not have with him.

Earlier, Sewnarian asked Roodt on what basis he was representing Hofmeyr in court.

"You can, by law, bring an application on behalf of someone to court. But this is a court proceeding...on what basis are you allowed to appear.

Roodt said the Constitution allowed him to appear on behalf of another.

"Proceedings allow for a fair trial. I should be allowed to appear on behalf of Hofmeyr," Roodt said.

Sewnarian ruled that no broadcast of the proceedings were allowed.

"No videos or computers, cellphones or any electronic device is allowed in court...any such communication can be done outside court," he said.

He said the court was guarding against a possibility of discouraging other persons from bringing similar applications to court due to broadcasts and live feeds such as Twitter.

Only pens and note pads were allowed.

Journalists had to step outside during the proceedings in order to use cellphones and laptops.


Source : Sapa /gm/jje/ks
Date : 27 Nov 2014 12:33
 
Steve Hofmeyer and Dan Roodt...They want their right to be racist protected, but want the right of others to call them on it restricted.
 
'APARTHEID' TWEET DID NOT OFFEND BLACKS: COURT

A tweet by Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr that black people were the architects of apartheid did not offend blacks, the Randburg Magistrate's Court heard on Thursday.

"In my published column, I am saying that the so-called apartheid tweet by Steve did not offend black people... it offended white liberals," Daniel Roodt, representing Hofmeyr, told the court.

He read an excerpt from a column he wrote, and published in Afrikaans. He translated it to English for the court.

Roodt, who is not a lawyer, brought an application for an interdict on behalf of Hofmeyr.

On November 10, Hofmeyr secured a court order against Conrad Koch, known through his puppet "Chester Missing", to prevent him from harassing the singer on Twitter.

The order prevents Koch and his puppet from threatening, harassing, or making defamatory statements against Hofmeyr.

Koch, represented by advocate Steven Budlender, is challenging the interim court order against him.

Magistrate Naren Sewnarain asked Roodt whether the tweet amounted to harassment. The harassment act provides for a protection order against harassment.

Roodt said the tweet was open to interpretation and it was difficult to explain the tweet further.

"...but Mr Hofmeyr explained it in less than 140 character," said Sewnarain.

Roodt said Hofmeyr said "..go figure" at the end of the tweet.

He said Hofmeyr also contested that apartheid was a crime against humanity before 1994.

"Hofmeyr contends that everyone who participated in the pre-1994 South Africa, through homelands and so on, is jointly responsible for apartheid, regardless of colour."

Roodt argued that a permanent order should be made against Missing.

"If not granted, there will be an outrage against Hofmeyr everywhere he goes because of the respondent's conduct on social media and everywhere else," Roodt said.

Budlender was expected to present his arguments against making the interim order permanent.


Source : Sapa /gm/ks
Date : 27 Nov 2014 13:10
 
NO BASIS FOR HOFMEYR COURT ORDER: COURT

There is no basis for Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr's attempt to seek a permanent court order against puppeteer and ventriloquist Conrad Koch, the Randburg Magistrate's Court in Johannesburg heard on Thursday.

"We submit that there is no basis for confirming any order against the respondent," Steven Budlender, for Koch, told the court.

"We submit that Hofmeyr is a public figure. Through his public and robust advocacy of racism he has invited a robust response."

Hofmeyr was accordingly required to display a greater degree of tolerance to criticism of his views than ordinary people, said Budlender.

Dan Roodt, who is not a lawyer, had brought an application for an interdict on behalf of Hofmeyr earlier this month.

Koch is challenging the interim court order against him.

Budlender said Hofmeyr wanted to have his cake and eat it.

"He wants to continue making provocative statements and when people criticise, he says they're not entitled to criticise him and therefore hides behind a protection order."

Granting a permanent order against Koch would prevent him and his puppet "Chester Missing" from enjoying freedom of speech for five years.

"There has to be exceptional circumstances where such an order is granted, and your worship we're not talking about a boyfriend who harasses and abuses an ex-girlfriend here," he said.

He said Roodt, Hofmeyr, and others hid behind the "rooi gevaar" (communist threat) tactic, and were convinced there was a conspiracy by white liberals and all kind of Marxists against them.

Hofmeyr tweeted on October 23: "Sorry to offend but in my books blacks were the architects of apartheid. Go figure."

Budlender said the tweet implied that black people brought apartheid upon themselves.

"Hofmeyr is well known for making controversial statements, and has publicly and vociferously supported rightwing politics."

Hofmeyr posted racist statements on Facebook in 2010, said Budlender.

"Writing in Afrikaans, Hofmeyr commented that 'Blacks, God knows, probably not all of them, but most of those I observe, feel justified and entitled in everything... from quotas/low matric marks to land rights/brutality'," Budlender read out the excerpt.

Koch, in response had launched a civil campaign with his puppet Missing, against Hofmeyr's racism, he said.

The campaign publicly denounced and ridiculed Hofmeyr's views and encouraged others, including companies to distance themselves from Hofmeyr's views.

Budlender quoted various controversial statements Hofmeyr made recently.

"My client did not threaten boycott or any other form of reprisal against the companies, although we submit that would have been permissible and would not have been prohibited by the harassment act."

Budlender referred to a Constitutional Court judgment in the Laugh it Off case, which concerned T-shirts which used satire and parody to take on SA Breweries' trade mark for Carling Black Label beer.

"Judge J Sachs ruled... a society that takes itself seriously risks bottling up its tensions and treating every example of irreverence as a threat to its existence. Humour is one of the solvents of democracy," Budlender said.

Koch made defamatory remarks against Hofmeyr but these were not unlawful, Budlender said.

The application should be dismissed in its entirety, and with costs against Hofmeyr.

"The application has no merit. Secondly, it was an abuse of process, brought for the ulterior purpose of trying to silence the respondent, while Hofmeyr continued to use social media platforms to espouse his racist views," he said.


Source : Sapa /gm/jk/ks
Date : 27 Nov 2014 15:52
 
'WAR AGAINST HOFMEYR'

Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr needs protection against a war being waged against him on social media, the Randburg Magistrate's Court in Johannesburg heard on Thursday.

"There is a semantic war against Steve who is out there all alone, except for my support," Daniel Roodt, representing Hofmeyr, told the court.

Roodt was replying to advocate Steven Budlender's arguments.

"They are at war with Mr Hofmeyr... are we going to have a social media for social norm or conduct semantic wars against one another?" Roodt said.

He said there should be a form of protection for Hofmeyr.

Magistrate Naren Sewnarain asked Roodt if he wanted a limitation on the quantity of tweets on Hofmeyr.

"Do you perhaps want, say only five messages sent out? Can't these messages be blocked by the applicant?"

Roodt said a limitation and use of language can be set.

Sewnarian is expected to pass judgment.


Source : Sapa /gm/jk
Date : 27 Nov 2014 16:06
 
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