Cape Town attorney Rael Kassel has been charged with the attempted murder of his partner, Sheline Uygun. A decision on bail was postponed by Magistrate Alida Theart on 7 August.
Kassel, who was arrested on 4 July, is alleged to have choked and suffocated Uygun on 25 June. Uygun alleges Kassel caused her severe bodily harm, particularly to her breasts, and attempted to strangle her at their home in Sea Point. According to Uygun, Kassel fled when the neighbour barged in to stop him, after which Uygun began to regain her breath.
Uygun laid charges against Kassel at Sea Point police station, but said it took more than a week before Kassel was called in to meet with the investigating officer, at which point he was arrested.
Kassel has pleaded not guilty, with a number of bail hearings having taken place since his arrest.
Advocate Dirk Uys and attorney Gary Trappler are jointly representing Kassel. Trappler is currently also on trial at the Cape Town Magistrates' Court, for allegedly slashing the tyres of his neighbour's car in a suspected racially motivated attack that took place in February 2020.
When Kassel appeared in court on 8 July, Uys argued Kassel should be granted bail as he was ill, and asked the court if he could submit further evidence of Kassel's medical condition.
Kassel reappeared before the court on 15 July following his discharge from New Somerset Hospital. Trappler took to the witness stand and attested to Kassel's ill-health, saying his client had only a couple of weeks left to live and thus should be released on bail.
Magistrate Theart ruled that more concrete evidence of ill-health was required.
The bail application continued on 17 July, with Uys telling the court that doctors from New Somerset Hospital declined to give testimony unless they were subpoenaed.
During closing arguments on 2 August, state prosecutor Ricardo Swarts called Uygun as a witness to testify on Kassel's health during their nearly three-year-long relationship.
Uygun told the court Kassel had told her he suffered from type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, and that he had been diagnosed with kidney disease. She said she had seen him inject himself with insulin, albeit irregularly, and medicate for high blood pressure, but not for any other illness.
She said Kassel had been a dependant on her medical aid for about six months during 2022, in which time he had been admitted to hospital for an ear infection. Uygun said that Kassel had asked the doctor treating him at that time to run further tests in order to benefit from the costs being covered by the medical aid.
"What I can say is that the last time he visited the doctor or had tests done was in September 2022," Uygun told the court.
Contrary to Trappler's testimony two weeks earlier, Uygun testified that Kassel was not terminally ill, lived an active lifestyle and enjoyed good food.
"He's a guy who loves sailing, so if there was an opportunity to go sailing, he would sail," said Uygun. "I can say for sure that for the entire year of 2024, he has never visited the doctor. He is in good health. We went out three times a week. We ate out a lot. We went to bed at 12 or 1 in the morning. I like a bit of sweet things. He loves his desserts. We lived a normal life."
When Swarts asked Uygun if Kassel had any dietary restrictions as would be expected of a terminally ill patient, Uygun said he did not. She said he enjoyed chocolates, cookies, sandwiches from Giovanni's, breakfast at Bootlegger, a good steak from The Hussar Grill, and Thai green curry from Simply Asia.
During cross-examination, Uygun reaffirmed that Kassel did not regularly inject himself with insulin, sometimes skipping his morning doses, and sometimes skipping all doses for days at a time. Uys questioned Uygun regarding Kassel's kidney disease, and she said that she only knew what Kassel had told her in 2022, and that it was not terminal.
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Swarts argued that Kassel was well enough to attend court and to be held at Pollsmoor prison, taking into consideration a 15 July report from New Somerset Hospital indicating "the patient is well".
Swarts read a letter to the court from the Sea Point police station commander, stating that New Somerset Hospital had declined to re-admit Kassel, despite Kassel's attempts to convince a doctor to do so.
Uys argued that Kassel, at 65 years old, was "a sick old man" who should not be sent to prison while awaiting trial.
Swarts countered that Kassel should be denied bail on the grounds that attempted murder is a scheduled offence. Swarts read at length from previous High Court judgments that supported the denial of bail in such circumstances.
On Wednesday Magistrate Theart postponed her judgment on bail until 14 August 2024. Kassel will remain in custody at Pollsmoor Prison's medical facility, where he has been detained since Friday.
Uygun's application for a protection order against Kassel will be heard in the civil court on 22 August 2024.
