Najwa Dirk, who is serving time behind bars for the murder of Cape Town music icon Taliep Petersen in 2006, has been granted parole on Wednesday, 11 September, reports Cape {town} Etc .
The decision follows months of sessions with Talieps family, social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists, including reports from criminologists, as part of the Correctional Services Parole Board process to assess her emotional and mental state.
The Department of Correction Services (DCS) confirms that Najwa Petersen appeared before the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board (CSPB) on 11 September 2024, where she was granted a parole placement date of 27 November 2024, said the DCS in a statement .
Now 63 years old, Najwa Petersen began serving a 28-year sentence on 11 February 2009 for murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances. She has participated in various rehabilitation programmes and will now be enrolled in pre-release programmes to prepare her for reintegration into society.
After pleading not guilty, Najwa was convicted in the Cape High Court alongside hitmen Abdoer Emjedi and Waheed Hassen. Hassen was sentenced to 25 years while Emjedi, who was sentenced to 24 years, was released on parole in 2020.
