Murder accused assaults prosecutor

Goitsemodimo Akanyang | Tuesday April 16, 2019 15:15

 

Gaboratanelwe Sejaka pleaded guilty to the offence of assaulting an officer of the court while in due execution of his duties. 

Sejaka assaulted crack prosecutor Gasemotho Pitlagano at Area L Magistrate Court on April 12, 2019. 

Sejaka assaulted Pitlagano after the latter wanted to make copies of the documents that the former possessed in order for the substantive prosecutor in the matter, who is based in Maun, to respond swiftly to Sejaka’s bail application pending sentence in the murder case. 

Pitlagano received what he did not anticipate when he proceeded to the dock to get the documents from Sejaka who out of the blue slapped him. 

When Sejaka was arraigned before senior magistrate Kose Makobo on Monday for the offence, inspector Mengistu Chigala told the court that Sejaka’s case was a very unusual matter because an accused person assaulted a prosecutor inside the courtroom. 

Chigala said: “The onus now rests on the state to make sure that unfortunate incident of this nature does not happen again.  The security of court officers is of paramount importance in order for the officers to do their duty without fear or favour. No one should be allowed to abuse officers of the court”. 

Sejaka is due in court on April 29 for fact reading. It was not the first incident in which an accused person assaulted a prosecutor from the DPP. 

In January 2017 another prosecutor from the DPP Mompoloki Gaboiphiwe was assaulted by a notorious convict, Gaomodimo Molosiwa, who is facing a slew of charges among them armed robbery. 

The 29-year-old Molosiwa surreptitiously attacked prosecutor Gaboiphiwe before prison warders in front of courtrooms four and five handcuffed him. 

According to eyewitnesses, before warders handcuffed Molosiwa, he somehow managed to evade the security detail that was escorting him and unleashed two claps that caught Gaboiphiwe by surprise. 

Said one witness from the DPP who requested to be anonymous: “The prison warders are to blame for this fracas. They should always handcuff prisoners after court sessions before the prisoners pass near prosecutors or members of the public”. 

Following the recent Pitlagano assault incident, prosecutors who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity told Mmegi that they no longer feel safe in the vicinity of accused persons while executing their duties inside and outside courtrooms. 

They said that the courts should firmly deal with all accused persons who assault court officers including journalists who are also sporadically attacked by accused persons at the courts.