Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - June 18, 2006
Benjamin Moshatama

Martin Leigh, who was diagnosed with HIV six years ago, was horrified when police banged on his door in the early hours of Thursday morning to conduct a search of his home.

After finding the antiretroviral drugs, the policemen told Leigh to put on his shoes and then hauled him into the back of a police vehicle.

The 40-year-old was taken to Douglasdale Police Station, in northern Johannesburg, where he was placed in a holding facility along with other suspects before being fingerprinted.

He is to appear in the Randburg Magistrate's Court on a charge of drug possession tomorrow.

Constable Sefako Xaba, a Johannesburg police spokesman, confirmed that a raid had been carried out in the area to flush out drug dealers and users following complaints from the public.

He confirmed that Leigh had been arrested, but said it was because he could not provide the police with documents proving how he had come by the anti-Aids drugs.

But, Xaba said, it was unlikely that the policemen would have known the difference between illegal substances and any large quantity of medicinal drugs.

Under normal circumstances, a suspect may not be named until he has appeared in court or pleaded, but Leigh has agreed to be interviewed.

Leigh said he signed a standard letter at the police station that contains the Notice of Rights in terms of the Constitution, which stipulates the right of human dignity, among others.

He said he felt violated.

Leigh, a trustee of the Treatment Action Campaign, said he and a friend had been woken up by violent knocks on a window at his home in the early hours of the morning.

"We opened the door half asleep and there were about 10 or so policemen at our door who started to search our apartment, especially my room," said Leigh.

He claimed that the police, upon finding his pills, had asked what they were. At first, he simply told them they were his medicine, but when they demanded to know what they were for, he was forced to admit that it was anti-Aids medication.

"I didn't feel I had to explain to the police that I was HIV-positive. I didn't feel it was right. I thought it was sufficient when I said it was my medication," said Leigh.

Leigh said he had received a three- or four-month supply of the drugs at Ealing Hospital in London before he came to South Africa recently.

"When they saw my medicine they weren't interested in anything else. It did not register to them that I was HIV-positive," said Leigh.

He said he was asked to put on his shoes as he would be taken to the police station where the drugs would be "tested".

In addition, Leigh said, he and other suspects in the police van were taken on a lengthy drive and arrived at the police station only about three hours later.

"We were in the police van for two and a half hours while it was driving up and down the complex. It was half past five in the morning. It was freezing. I wanted to urinate and asked the policeman if I could urinate outside, and he said no."

The only option was to use a two-litre Coca-Cola bottle, containing what appeared to be urine.

"There were 20 other people in the van. I could not do it."

Leigh said that the policeman at the police station wrote down details of every item in his bag, including his herbal toothpaste, as evidence.

Police later told him that he could go, but that he would have to leave the bulk of his medication behind.

"They wanted to keep all the medication for testing, and only give me one week's supply. I can't afford to miss a dose; you can develop drug resistance by missing a dose," Leigh said.

Leigh was later told by his father that a family lawyer had said that the police were only entitled to seize a small sample of medication for testing.

Leigh left a two-week supply of the antiretrovirals at the police station.

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