Africa-Press – Malawi. By Mercy Matonga:
The High Court sitting in Lilongwe Thursday heard the review application made by lawyers for Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church leader Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and wife Mary in relation to the extradition case the two are answering.
The review hearing follows a 30-day suspended ruling by High Court Judge Madalitso Chimwaza, who initially ruled that out of 10 charges the two were facing, there was sufficient evidence in three cases.
Chimwaza ruled that Prophet Bushiri should answer rape charges on three complaints out of eight complaints that were there and answer two other offences together with his wife.
Wapona KitaHowever, defence lawyer Wapona Kita asked for the stay as the defence wanted to seek bail for the two and appeal the ruling.
Submitting his arguments in the court, which he said are 15, Kita faulted the ruling by the subordinate court, saying evidence that was presented was not substantial.
He argued that witness Mzinyathi was not an eligible witness as he did not provide original copies of evidence to the court.
“The evidence which was presented in court was not authenticated evidence. This is why we want this court to dissolve this case,” Kita said.
He also said the judgement that was delivered was not well deliberated by the judge but a collection of affidavits from other cases.
The lawyer further said the judgement that was delivered was not well deliberated by the judge but a collection of affidavits from other cases.
Speaking to journalists during a break, Kita said the judge omitted a number of errors in her ruling as some of grounds for the ruling were not in line with the extradition docket.
“The law requires [them] to give a reason [for a] decision. We have a number of issues, including the authentication one. She also errored extraditing Mary Bushiri on forgery related to immigration offices but that offence is not found in the extradition docket,” Kita said.
Dzikondianthu MalundaSubmitting his arguments, State advocate Dzikondianthu Malunda said the authenticity of the evidence raised by the State should not be questioned, as the issues pointed out by the defence were just minor errors.
Malunda said the errors might have occurred during photocopying of the documents, maintaining that the substance of the evidence remained intact.
However, Malunda also faulted the subordinate court’s judgement on the issue of reducing the number of rape charges from eight to three, saying it was not within the court’s mandate to screen the evidence.
Malunda further said the court should act in the interest of justice and uphold the application of international law, taking into account Malawi’s bilateral relations with the South African government.
Speaking to journalists, Malunda said the State stood by the ruling, adding that it was only seeking clarification on the issue of the number of rape cases.
“As for who is supposed to testify, we stand by Kalemba’s ruling; [to the effect] that it is only State agents that were supposed to come to testify and these are the ones that are not going to testify in South Africa because bringing those who will testify in South Africa is the same as [conducting] a trial here in Malawi,” Malunda said.
The High Court Judge who was hearing the case asked both parties to submit closing submissions by July 25, with the ruling set to be delivered not later than 60 days.
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