LUSAKA chief resident magistrate Davies Chibwili has condemned Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) officers who picked up Espionage suspect Shaderick Kasanda from a holding cell at court where he was scheduled to appear before him.
On Wednesday, Kasanda was scheduled to appear before magistrate Chibwili at 14:00hours but was picked up from holding cell within the Lusaka Magistrate’s complex, allegedly by DEC officers who were reportedly planning to imposed more charges on him on top of Espionage.
This prompted Kasanda’s lawyers to apply that contempt of court proceedings be instituted against the people who apprehended their client, an act deems disrespectful to the court.
Because of the absence of Kasanda, who is jointly charged with 10 others, at the time, the court proceeding was disturbed.
Magistrate Chibwili later summoned a female DEC officer who was reported to have released Kasanda from the holder cell but the investigator informed the court that she never released him from the cells but that some paramilitary officers picked him and went away with him in a bus.
But in his testimony during an inquiry in the alleged contempt of court, Mr Kasanda informed the court that he was picked up from the holding cell by five DEC officers named.
The accused said the officers dragged and beat him before demanding for some dollars to secure his release.
In his ruling today, the magistrate said the behaviour of the people who whisked away Kasanda from the holding cell was contemptuous and disturbed proceedings.
“Clearly, actions of the State agents interrupted the proceedings of the court,” the magistrate said.
He wondered why the law enforcers failed to exercise restraint and allow the accused appear in court first before carrying out their investigations.
“What urgency was there to wishing the accused away. The State should have waited. The person who directed that officers [pick the accused] was himself or herself was over zealous.I don’t wish to proceed further but to issue a stern warning that any repeat of what transpired will not be tolerated,” magistrate Chibwili said.
Later on, magistrate Chibwili freed six out of the 11 gold scam suspects who were jointly charged with Kasanda.
This was after he was informed that the Director of Public Prosecutions Gilbert Phiri had entered a nolle prosequi and that the State will nolonger continue with the proceedings.
Those who were freed are Zambian accountant Oswald Diangamo and five Egyptians Mounir Shaker Gerges Awad, a businessman, Mohamed Abdelhak Mohamed Gooda, a retired colonel, Yasser Batros, a security manager and Walid Botros, a businessman.
But five Zambians, Kasanda, Patrick Kawanu, a commercial pilot, Francis Makai-Mateyo, a state security officer, Robinson Moonga, a police officer and Mahogany Air chief executive officer Jim Belemu were committed to the High Court for trial in the Espionage charge they are jointly charged with.
Allegations are that on August 13, 2023 at KKIA, in the Chongwe, the 11 jointly and while acting together entered a protected KKIA, a protected place.
They suspects allegedly entered the premises for purposes prejudicial to the safety and interest of the Republic of Zambia.
The five will appear in the High Court at the next criminal session of the High Court.
Four other foreigners, including one Spanish, one Dutch, one Nevisian, connected to the same case are still reportedly detained and recently applied for bail pending formal charges but their status quo is not known.
All the suspects in this case were arrested two weeks ago at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, during an operation which resulted in the seizure of over US$5 million and 602 pieces of suspected Gold weighing 127.2 kilograms.
The operation led by DEC also saw the commission seizing the Global Express T7-WW on which the seized items were found and another aircraft belonging to a local airline whose make is King Air B190.
(Mwebantu, Sunday, 2nd September, 2023)
