MORE DAYS IN JAIL FOR BHEKI, THULANI

MBABANE – The Nation Magazine Editor Bheki Makhubu and Lawyer Thulani Maseko will spend another seven days in prison.
This comes after High Court Judge Mpendulo Simelane yesterday remanded them in custody until Tuesday.

By then the accused will have spent 14 consecutive days in custody.
Judge Simelane dismissed an application made by their lawyers that they be released on their own recognisance and be duly served with summons when they were to appear before court.

Maseko’s lawyer, Mandla Mkhwanazi, submitted that the High Court was not a remand court.  He said when they came to court yesterday they were not sure what they had been called for, but they were later informed by the Director of Public Prosecutions that he intended to apply for a trial date.
“This is not a remand court but the High Court of Swaziland. Even accused facing serious charges are not remanded in this court and I fail to understand why this matter is treated differently from other criminal cases,” Mkhwanazi submitted.

He said the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act was clear that remands should be made by a magistrate and if he is satisfied that the matter is serious he then refers it to the High Court.
Mkhwanazi said the High Court had been turned into a remand court and one would not be surprised if a housebreaking or theft suspect would be brought to the High Court for a remand.

“It will now appear as if the accused are now serving sentence through the endless detention and there is no reason for that. It is not in dispute that the interest of justice favours that they be released and served with summons instead of them being detained without their matter being concluded,” Mkhwanazi said.

He also told the court that it was only in a subordinate court that a bail application was made from the bar not in the High Court.
Mkhwanazi also informed Judge Simelane that they intended filing an application for his recusal in this matter.

 Lawyer Ncamiso Manana who is representing Makhubu aligned himself with Mkhwanazi’s submissions.   He informed the court that he was also objecting to the application by the Crown that the accused be remanded in custody.

Close to 200 in court for moral support

MBABANE – A crowd of about 200 people made its presence felt at the High Court yesterday to support Bheki Makhubu and Thulani Maseko.
Among those present to observe the proceedings were international lawyers and representatives of human rights organisations.

Some of those who had come to give the accused moral support were carrying pamphlets with a verse written on them.
The verse which was written on the pamphlets was quoted from Isaiah 58 verse 6 and it read: “No this is the kind of Justice I want; Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you.”

The incarcerated Makhubu and Maseko arrived at around 9am in leg irons for their case which began 30 minutes later.
The High Court car park was crowded by a contingent of officers from the Royal Swaziland Police and His Majesty’s Correctional Services. The accused were dressed contrastingly as Makhubu was casual in a blue T-shirt and whitewashed pair of jeans while Maseko was clad in traditional Zulu attire, complete with the relevant head gear.

The two appeared before Judge Mpendulo Simelane, where a representative of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) applied for them to be remanded in custody and also used the opportunity to apply for a trial date.
Defence lawyer Mandla Mkhwanazi objected to this and it was then that the Crown representative requested a five-minute adjournment to allow him to confer with his superiors. Members of proscribed entities who were there as well used the adjournment to break out in struggle songs but they were stopped by members of the Royal Swaziland Police. After five minutes had elapsed and the court session had resumed, the DPP, Nkosinathi Maseko, appeared for the Crown and you could hear a pin drop as Mkhwanazi addressed the court.
After the two were remanded in custody the accused’s supporters, who included their friends, relatives, and members of civic groups sang Nkosi Sikelel’iAfrica at the gate.

Bheki withdraws bail application

MBABANE – The Nation Magazine Editor Bheki Makhubu has withdrawn his application for bail.
The bail application was formally withdrawn by his Lawyer Ncamiso Maxwell Manana yesterday.

Last week Makhubu filed a bail application under a certificate of urgency where he stated that he would plead not guilty to the charges of contempt of court preferred against him.

Order

Judge Mpendulo Simelane, who was presiding over the matter, wanted to know from Makhubu’s lawyer why they were withdrawing the bail application as there was a court order that was issued on Friday.
Last week Friday, Judge Simelane had ordered Makhubu’s lawyer to file a supplementary affidavit and that the bail application was to be heard on Friday.

In response Makhubu’s lawyer said he was unable to file the supplementary affidavit due to time constraints. “The reason we did not file the supplementary affidavit was that we could not get hold of the people who were to sign the affidavits,” Manana said.
It was exactly 9:46am when the lawyer informed the court that Makhubu was formally withdrawing his bail application.

‘Courts bringing back 60-day detention’

MBABANE – ‘Through the continued detention of the accused without trial the court is bringing back the 60-day detention through the back door’.
These were the words of Lawyer Mandla Mkhwanazi when applying that his client, Thulani Maseko, be released on his own recognisance.
Mkhwanazi asked that Maseko be released in his own recognisance and be duly served with summons and warned when they are to appear before court. He said it was clear that through the continued detention the accused were now serving sentence. “I submit that the interest of justice favours that he be released. My client has already served the sentence. We intimate moving an application for His Lordship’s recusal and that application will be made in due course,” Mkhwanazi said.
He said when the accused first appeared before court, the Crown did not make any application that they be remanded in custody instead it was the court which ordered that.  Mkhwanazi said on that day he had expected the Crown to move an application as per the provision of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act but that was not the case.

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