Africa-Press – Lesotho. THE recent withdrawal of top advocates, Shaun Abrahams and Motene Rafoneke, from handling high profile cases has only served to confirm that all is not well within our justice system.
At the centre of the row between the top advocates and the government of Lesotho is the issue of their remuneration. That this has been going on for quite some time now is no longer news.
But with the government of Lesotho constantly delaying their payments, matters have now come to a head. This time, it would appear the two top prosecutors are gone for good. In the interests of justice for everyone involved in the high profile cases, these matters must now be allowed to continue unimpeded.
We are therefore in full agreement with Justice Charles Hungwe’s proposal to allow the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Advocate Hlalefang Motinyane, to take over these cases.
With Abrahams and Rafoneke now gone, there is a risk that the cases could be delayed further. That would be a big dent on Lesotho’s justice system. It is therefore absolutely imperative that Motinyane takes over the cases and clean the mess.
If she doesn’t and her office fails to deal with the cases timeously, that will be a big blight on her legacy. The withdrawal of the prosecutors has meant that the cases involving the soldiers who were arrested over five years ago and have been languishing in remand prison could be further delayed.
Five years after their arrest, Lesotho is nowhere near finalising a single case involving the soldiers. That is not a good record. The DPP will of course argue that the soldiers have contributed to the delays by filing appeal after appeal in the High Court.
Both sides must however shoulder the blame for the delays in finalising the cases. That the over 40 soldiers are still rotting in remand prison, five years after they were hauled to jail, says much about our justice system.
This in no way minimises some of the heinous crimes they allegedly committed. The killing of Lieutenant General Maaparankoe Mahao and the four men who were later thrown into Mohale Dam remains a big dent on the army.
Still the suspects deserve speedy trials. To keep the soldiers in detention without being convicted by a competent court would be a serious violation of their basic human rights.
It is therefore urgent that the DPP intervenes in the matter to ensure a speedy trial for the soldiers. They must be convicted or be granted bail. Advocate Motinyane should not sub-contract these cases.
She must now handle these herself to ensure that the soldiers’ trials are brought to finality. We would also like to believe that she has a competent team of prosecutors within her office to handle these cases successfully.
When the soldiers were initially arrested back in 2017, the argument was that Lesotho needed an outsider without the baggage of proximity either through political connections or lineage to handle the cases.
That argument has now fallen off. The shambolic manner in which Abrahams has handled the prosecutions and the failure to conclude the cases now means we need a fresh approach to finalise these cases.
The constant withdrawals and threats by Abrahams have reduced the soldiers’ trial into a charade. The damage to Lesotho’s reputation has been massive. That is why the DPP must now make the decisive intervention to salvage the little reputation of our justice system.
https://www.thepost.co.ls/comment/stop-the-charade/
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