Ticket-scalpers, mini-skirted Dutch blondes, a man who stole a duvet cover on a freezing night and a British man who accidentally wandered into the England team's dressing room. These are among the defendants in South Africa's special network of World Cup courts - a unique system of rapid-fire justice that is generating controversy and headlines around the world.
Swift sentences of up to 15 years imprisonment, mostly to foreigners, have been handed down by the special World Cup courts. Some of the trials are as short as 20 minutes. The courts run for 15 hours a day, in two shifts, with some 260 prosecutors assigned to the 56 courts.
The judicial experiment has ignited a furor of reaction. Some observers are touting them as an efficient solution to South Africa's notoriously high crime rate. Others warn that the system is much too harsh, arbitrary and tilted in favour of the corporate interests of FIFA, the governing body for world soccer.
In the most controversial case, two Dutch women will appear in court on Tuesday on charges of "ambush marketing." They were arrested after 36 young blondes were spotted in the stands at a World Cup match, wearing the bright orange mini-dresses of a Dutch brewer, Bavaria. The brewer's logo was barely visible, but the women were accused of violating the monopoly of the official FIFA sponsors. They could face six months in prison.
In an equally bizarre case, the special courts have scheduled a trial on Friday for a British fan who stumbled into the dressing room of the England soccer team while he was searching for a toilet.
The fan, 32-year-old Pavlos Joseph, said a stadium steward had pointed him in the direction of a tunnel at Green Point stadium when he was seeking a toilet after a goalless draw between England and Algeria last Friday in Cape Town. After wandering around the tunnel, apparently breaching three separate security points without anyone challenging him, he opened a door and found himself in the England team's dressing room.
The team's injured star, David Beckham, was standing in front of him. The fan told Mr. Beckham that the team's performance was "a disgrace." Then a FIFA official led him away. He was released, and Mr. Beckham laughed off the incident, but the fan was later charged with trespassing and could face a one-year jail sentence from the special courts. His passport was seized, and he is barred from any further World Cup matches. His family says he is being made a scapegoat for lax security at the stadium.
Most of the other cases at the special courts are linked to petty crime against World Cup fans. In a trial that took fewer than 20 minutes, for example, a South African man was hit with a five-year jail sentence for stealing a cellphone from an Argentine fan.
In another case, a Nigerian man was sentenced to three years in prison for attempted ticket-scalping after he was found in possession of 30 tickets. A vagrant in Cape Town was sentenced to a year in prison for stealing a Korean tourist's backpack. Another man was jailed for 20 months for stealing a duvet cover from a minibus hired by a World Cup tourist. And two Zimbabweans were sentenced to 15 years for robbing a group of Portuguese and Spanish journalists - just three days after the robbery took place.
Some analysts have praised the World Cup courts, calling them a potential model for South Africa's justice system in the future. They note that the regular South African courts are plagued by long delays and postponements when police or lawyers fail to show up at court. Most cases take months or years to resolve. The example of the World Cup courts is proof that South Africa can provide swift justice when cases are deemed a priority.
But others are worried that the special courts are ignoring the legal rights of the defendants. They ask how a fair trial can be held in 20 minutes, and how a defendant can be sentenced to prison only three days after the crime.
There was also criticism from the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, who said it was "disproportionate" to arrest the two Dutch women and put them on trial for breaching the monopoly of a World Cup sponsor.
Another issue is the cost. Most of the 1,500 officials at the special courts are sitting idle as they wait for cases to arrive. Only 25 cases have been heard by the courts so far, and one South African newspaper has estimated that each conviction is costing about $240,000 in court costs.
While the special courts are handing down harsh prison sentences to some people, the World Cup security system in general has been dangerously lax. Many fans and journalists are entering the World Cup stadiums without anyone checking their tickets or bags. When security guards and stewards went on strike, they were replaced by police who seemed to have no training in how to check tickets or bags.