ATI off the hook, for now
Sharon Mathala | Wednesday August 20, 2014 11:55
The ruling was initially set for yesterday but was postponed because the presiding magistrate was absent. The court is set to decide whether it will dismiss the charges or proceed with the prosecution against the “O Tsididi” hit maker. Molemogi’s lawyer Kgosietsile Ngakayagae previously submitted that the state had breached the court order by serving them with the summary of evidence on a date later than the one set by court.
He said in doing so, the state was not only contemptuous of the court order but they also had a shorter period to review the evidence.
According to court papers, the state should have served the defendants with the summary of evidence by July 4, 2014.
However, the prosecution only served the documents on July 25, several days before the Case Management Conference. In their defence, the state told court they filed the papers late because their office printers were not working.
Molemogi and his two accomplishes are accused of abducting Nayang Ngwenya after a money dispute. The court learned that the three beat up Ngwenya before throwing him into the boot of Molemogi’s car.
Ngwenya was saved when police removed him from the boot during a search at a roadblock along Molepolole-Gaborone road.
Ngakayagae has however denied that Molemogi and his accomplices electrocuted Ngwenya using battery terminals. He also rubbished claims they threatened to kill him. The trio face a 10-year sentence for kidnapping, with an added year for assault if found guilty.