Court Finally Grants AFM Pastor�s Fellow Bail
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Monday May 22, 2017 15:31
The two, together with Mogomotsi have been charged with the murder of his wife, Dianah Ompelege Mogomotsi, who died in January following a brutal attack by alleged thieves at their home in Mochudi.
They trio was initially denied bail by the same Court, but Mogomotsi was admitted to bail by Gaborone High Court Judge following his application.
When applying for bail in respect of Tlhase, attorney Mabala Rabasha argued that the issue of safety of his client, which has been the main reason of opposing bail by the prosecution, is unfounded.
He views the reason as speculative. He argued that the mere fact that the case has attracted public interest could be on account that one of the accused, Mogomotsi, is a high profile person because of his position as a priest. “We still insist on applying for bail. It seems the prosecution is concerned with safety of the second and third accused, but that concern is unfounded.
Our view is that we could assume that those in the gallery are church members here to support the pastor. It can’t be that they are interested in the fate of the other accused,” he said.
He further said that the other accused has been out on bail, but there has never been a reported instance of his safety being compromised even though the prosecution had raised concern for his safety prior to him being admitted to bail.
He said that his client is not a flight risk and has no history of breaching bail conditions. “He will comply with conditions that the court orders, chief amongst them being not to interfere with state witnesses.”
For his part, Porogwane pleaded for bail. He further said he intends to record a fresh statement as he made the initial one under duress.
However, prosecutor Tlotlang Balatlhwa argued that they fear for the lives of the two accused persons. He said that the public has mixed feelings about the case.
“The only issue that concerns us is their safety. The police would not want to be held accountable. It has sufficed that the people are rallying behind the first accused person, who is a complainant against the two in another matter.
The congregation of the first accused will ultimately take the law into their own hands,” Balatlhwa said.
On the issue of laptops, which was raised in the previous mention, Balatlhwa said that they are awaiting information from the service providers where they had been taken for analysis.
When granting the accused bail, Magistrate Keabetswe Majuta said that the prosecution concedes that the two are not flight risk but is only concerned for their safety.
She therefore does not find why she should deny them bail, as they will not interfere with investigations.
She admitted the two to cash bail of P2,000 each with each providing a Motswana surety at P1,000 each. The court ordered the accused to report at Mochudi Police station fortnightly, submit their travel documents and not to interfere with investigations. The trio were also retrained from being in contact with each other.