Punish the prosecution, says Seretse's lawyers

ISAIAH MOREWAGAE
Staff Writer | Wednesday December 8, 2010 00:00

 

Lead defence counsel, Parks Tafa submitted before Village Chief Magistrate, Barnabas Nyamadzabo that the state should be cited for contempt because of failure to provide cabinet papers as ordered by the court. He said if the state is left to do as it pleases, then there will be no compliance with court order. 'There has to be compliance with the order of this court,' he stressed.

However, the magistrate could not make a decision on the matter as the state applied for adjournment to consult with Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on the order made by the magistrate. State counsel Mpho Letswalo was adamant that they have no business in providing the defence with documents they are looking for.

He said giving the defence the cabinet papers is not necessary because the prosecution is not going to use the documents in the case.

Letswalo told the court that the defence is free to access cabinet memos and the order issued by the court did not compel the prosecution to provide the documents. 'There was never a compulsion on the part of DPP to provide mentioned documents as it is not part of the state's case,' Letswalo said.

However, the defence put pressure on the state to explain the intention of the court order. The defence asked if the order meant that the state had the responsibility to avail documents to the defence.  Nyamadzabo also asked Letswalo some questions centred on why the state failed to provide documents to the defence. After lengthy discussions between, Letswalo, Tafa and the magistrate, the state counsel requested an adjournment.

The case has been adjourned to Thursday afternoon. Seretse resigned from the Ministry of Justice and Security after it emerged that the DPP planned to drag him to court as a consequence of his company's dealings with a department under the ministry.  The company RFT, is said to have tendered to supply equipment to the police yet Seretse did not declare his interest in the firm to the president.