Seretse, Paul Paledi, Botswana Telecommunications Project Manager Berndt Astrom, and a company called Serala (Pty) Ltd are charged with several counts of corruption.When the case resumed yesterday, the parties unanimously agreed that it should be committed to the High Court for trial, although the defence insisted that they had not been furnished with further particulars as per their request. The defence lawyers stated however, that they would make an application for such particulars before the High Court.
However, the shocking moment came when Magistrae Mokibe-Oahile confirmed committal of the case to the High Court and ordered that the accused persons be remanded in custody.This prompted the defence team, composed
of Tengo Rubadiri, Thabiso Tafila, and Rahim Khan, to seek clarity and request a short adjournment.They stated that the adjournment was to discuss the jail statement with the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) team comprising of
Leonard Sechele and Mosweu Ditodi."We have conferred with the DPP and we r e a c h e d a n agreement that the same Act that the magistrate used to commit the accused to jail, also gives her powers to grant bail. This was not anticipated my Lord," Tafila stated upon returning from the short adjournment.He stated that the parties have discussed the matter and that DPP did not oppose bail for the accused persons, adding that the accused persons
are not a flight risk and have been cooperative since they have attended all court sessions as scheduled. Mokibe-Oahile explained that by committing the accused persons to jail, she relied on Section 96 of the Criminal Procedure
and Evidence Act, which automatically jails them until such time that they have successfully applied for bail. Ditodi interjected and quoted Section 4 of the same Act that empowers the presiding magistrate to grant bail for accused
persons committed to the High Court except in treason or murder cases.
