Murder accused says Magistrate is biased

Lindiwe Mozola | Tuesday November 28, 2017 16:21

 

He said that he tried on several occasions to apply for bail but failed. He added that he was shocked to learn that some of his co-accused were granted bail.

“In all occasions I applied for bail, I followed all the necessary steps one needed to go through in order to get bail, but I was denied it. I believe that this is not fair. Moreover, I still maintain that I know nothing of the said offence,” he said.

He added that what pained him the most was that he was not with other accused persons when the offence was committed, but they were granted bail.

He said: “Even my car which is said to have been the one used to commit the crime was never near the scene on the date of the crime. I did tell the court that I was not even the driver of the car on the day the crime was committed. Ga ke itse gore lekgotla le le le nkutlwa eng.Jail is not a child’s play. I deserve bail just like other accused persons”.

Magistrate Gofaone Morwaeng told Seeiso that at times when an offence is committed by a group of people, there are those who at times will be alleged to have played a major part (in the commission of the offence) which ultimately means that charges will vary.

He added that circumstances surrounding the commission of the offence and charges can also be a factor when the court want to decide if it should offer an accused person bail or not. The above scenarios, he said were applied to Seeiso as well.

“I also believe that when giving bail to some of the co- accused, the Magistrate made it clear the reasons for which bail was given.”

“You were also denied bail at the High Court. There is no how the Magistrate can overrule an order made by the High Court. As for your opinion that you were never part of the offence, this will be your defence during trial where both your evidence and prosecution evidence will be tested,” explained Morwaeng.

The State prosecutor, Moses Serojane had earlier told the court that on December 19, of the case will be committed to the high court for trial.

Seeiso, together with three other accused were denied bail while three other accused were given bail. The six accused persons are alleged to have on October 30, last year at Extention 2 here, murdered one Chinese national,  Ja Chal.

On the second count, they are alleged to have stolen items valued at P25, 400  from the deceased and shot another Chinese man Monhan Jan on the right leg in order to obtain the properties.