It is the sound of silence

01 June 2023, Dries Knoetze 220

There is a lot of truth behind the old saying, silence is golden, especially when the police shows up at your house and want to arrest you.

One of my favorite songs of all time is the song titled The Sound of Silence, which was originally done by Simon and Garfunkel and since then remade by various artist amongst others Disturbed, the song speaks of the inability of people to communicate with each other and is this topic present right from the first, universally known verse: Hello darkness, my old friend, I have come to talk to you again. In this verse it seems that the artist has no one to talk to except the darkness to tell it about the dream he had.

Now although we, as the human race, long for connection and most of the time struggle to keep anything to ourselves - especially on social media - one of the most important times to remain silent is when the police want to arrest you.

In terms of the constitution of South Africa, Chapter 3 Section 25, you are afforded as an arrested or detained person - various rights. Amongst these right and one of the most important rights is the right to remain silent. Many people do not know what this right entails and more often than not find themselves in a situation where a statement made by them upon arrest, is used against them in court.

The principle behind this right, is that everyone is considered to be not guilty until proven guilty and as such you are entitled to place the State to the proof of the allegations against you.

In more cases than not, depending on the circumstances of the case, a person when being arrested, is in such a state of shock that he/she cannot think clearly and then ends up giving a statement to the police, which might not be the true set of events. This statement will be used against you when the matter is heard in court and any contradiction made by you in court or on your statement will be used to not only discredit your evidence, but might lead to your conviction.

It is therefore important to note that as per the artists Simon and Garfunkel, rather speak to the darkness then to the SAPS and wait until you have consulted with your attorney before making any statement regarding the charge.

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