State to appeal 'Kgosi photos' ruling
Mpho Mokwape | Tuesday March 23, 2021 18:49
The prosecution’s intentions come following the ruling made early this year in which the court dropped a crucial charge against him in the ongoing legal battle where he was accused of contravening the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services Act, exposing security agents to the public.
Kgosi was accused of photographing the state agents and sharing the pictures with a certain publication, as one of the charges, but the court dropped it for lack of evidence.
This morning during a status hearing before Broadhurst Magistrate’s Court, prosecutor Thato Dibeela told the court that the state wants to appeal the ruling and that they have made an application for condonation for late filing of the appeal.
“We have decided to appeal the ruling made and since we intend to file out of time, we have filed an application for condonation,” she said.
Asked why the charge sheet has not been amended as ordered by the ruling, Dibeela said since they decided to appeal there was no need to do so at the moment.
However, Kgosi’s defence team of senior attorneys Thabiso Tafila and Unoda Mack are not happy with the state’s intention saying the court should not entertain such as the appeal should be done at the High Court, not the Magistrate’s Court.
The team also said they are not even sure the state has merits to their application as to why they want to appeal out of time when they were given enough time to file if they so wished.
Kgosi, who last year applied for all his charges to be dropped, is currently remaining with a lesser charge, which is being accused of obstructing the officers from carrying out their duties.
The case will be back in court on March 31, 2021, for arguments.