Africa-Press – Lesotho. QAMO Matela, a Ha-Mabote man standing trial for the brutal murder of his wife, was dealt a major blow yesterday when his plea to block his own confession was rejected.
High Court judge, Justice Tšeliso Mokoko, found that Matela did not make the confession under duress or in fear of being tortured by the police. His lawyer, Advocate Lepeli Molapo, had told the court that Matela confessed under his instruction because he wanted him to avoid police torture.
Earlier, Advocate Molapo had told Justice Mokoko that he wanted to testify in court under oath that he was not present when Matela confessed, rejecting the police’s testimony that Matela made the confession in his presence.
He later changed tactics and pushed for the plea to be thrown out saying it was him who had advised Matela to confess to the police that he murdered his wife in an attempt to avoid being tortured.
Justice Mokoko said the court had concluded that Matela made his statement freely at the Mabote police and was not under any threat. The court dismissed Matela’s application to disregard his admission that he assaulted his wife before she died.
The court said there is no proof that he was coerced to confess. Justice Mokoko disregarded his explanation that he had received bad advice from his lawyer to cooperate with the authorities even though he was not guilty.
Qamo said he handed himself to the police after he was threatened on social media platforms by Lekhooa Monaleli, his friend, and Rorisang Mofolo, his wife’s sister.
Matela said Monaleli posted about his wife’s death on social media. The court told him that Monaleli has proof of all posts that he did and that he never posted about his wife’s death.
The court told Matela that Mofolo posted about her sister’s death and that there were no threats against him that were posted or the fact that the police were looking for him and were going to torture him.
Matela informed the court that Sergeant Maqabe was present when he gave his statement to the police. But the court told him that Sergeant Maqabe was in and out dealing with other matters.
All he did was to detain him and put him in the police holding cells. Matela told the court that the following day, Inspector Moeketsi called him to his office where he took a pile of files and placed it in front of him.
He said Insp Moeketsi told him to sign the documents. He said he did not know what he was signing but he did that only because his lawyer had told him to comply with the order to avoid being tortured.
Matela is accused of strangling and hitting his wife, ’Mahlompho Matela (nee Rethabile Mofolo), to death last year. She sustained fatal injuries on the neck and other parts of the body. The main murder trial will resume on October 23.
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