ZIMBABWE: UK property tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten freed in Zimbabwe on court order

Record ID: 553730

  • Title: ZIMBABWE: UK property tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten freed in Zimbabwe on court order
  • Date: 30th January 2008
  • Summary: VEHICLE WAITING TO CARRY VAN HOOGSTRATEN VARIOUS OF NICHOLAS VAN HOOGSTRATEN WITH ACCOMPLICES WALKING OUT OF CUSTODY WITH HEAD COVERED NICHOLAS VAN HOOGSTRATEN GETTING INTO VEHICLE AND DRIVING AWAY.
  • Embargoed: 14th February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Zimbabwe
  • Country: Zimbabwe
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA9AZLYTZRZSRG1RRDRFYBX4U03
  • Story Text: His lawyer said Nicholas van Hoogstraten had been detained longer than allowed by law.
    Zimbabwe's high court ordered British property tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten on Tuesday (January 29) to be released from police custody because he had been detained longer than allowed by law, his defence lawyer said.
    The 63-year-old, arrested last Thursday (January 24) in a night police raid at his home, was initially due in court on Monday but did not appear and his lawyers made an urgent application to the high court for his release.
    Zimbabwean law allows police to hold suspects for not more than 48 hours before bringing them to court.
    After his release, Van Hoogstraten, who shielded his face from cameras, was driven away in a sports car.
    Van Hoogstraten has been charged with levying rentals on his properties in foreign currency in violation of Zimbabwean law.
    He owns about 200 residential and business properties in Zimbabwe. He has denied any wrongdoing and also said he had not fallen out with President Robert Mugabe's government over his arrest.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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