'SOME CONVINCED TO PLEAD GUILTY’

MBABANE – Some of the people who were unrepresented in court were allegedly convinced by the police and prosecutors to plead guilty.

This, according to one of the lawyers who offered their services for free to the accused persons, was to ensure that the accused did not have to keep coming to court. The lawyer, who preferred to remain anonymous, said if the accused persons kept coming to court, it would annoy the presiding officers because they found it to be a waste of time. The attorney said the alleged looters were enticed with a low fine if they pleaded guilty. He mentioned that some of the accused persons’ employers did not tolerate having their employees requesting to go to court time and again. The lawyer also said the arrested people included pupils and one of them was allegedly advised by the police to plead guilty.

Contravening

The attorney stated that he found some pupils in court who were not represented. They were charged for allegedly contravening the Public Order Act and some of them were released to the custody of their parents when they made their court appearances.
Initially, none of the accused persons were granted bail or given the opportunity to move bail applications at the magistrates courts. One magistrate was reported to have mentioned that there was a directive to the effect that none of the alleged looters should be granted bail. One of the arrested pupils was a 15-year-old male who was released to his mother’s custody, pending commencement of his trial.  According to the attorney, a 17-year-old pupil was allegedly wrongly advised to plead guilty by the police and the prosecution. He said they were in the process of challenging the arrest and conviction. “The accused persons also include nine pupils from one school in the Shiselweni Region,” said the lawyer.

Detained

He said some pupils were detained and allegedly beaten for inciting their schoolmates to protest. Worth noting is that on some of the charge sheets, the type and values of the items the accused persons were accused of looting were not stated.  There were several cases of pupils who were arrested during the recent protests. A 17-year-old pupil, who was charged with arson, was granted E50 000 bail and he remained in custody pending posting of bail. Another pupil of the same age was granted the same amount of bail and was released to the custody of his mother, pending setting of a trial date. The attorney said an 18-year-old pupil sustained a gunshot wound and was considering filing a civil claim against government. Last Thursday, pupils who are accused of burning the Shewula Police Post were granted bail. Four of the pupils were each granted bail fixed at E15 000. They were each ordered to pay an amount of E3 000 and provide sureties for the balance. The fifth pupil was released to the custody of his father a week before his co-accused were granted bail.

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