Nine suspects in the Lilongwe demonstrations disruption case have pleaded not guilty to six charges levelled against them and are now seeking bail.
The nine are jointly facing one count of acts intended to cause grevious harm, two counts of robbery, two counts of arson, and one count of demanding property with intent to steal.
They are accused of assaulting human rights activist Sylvester Namiwa, burning two vehicles and robbing people of property.
However, when they appeared before principal resident magistrate Benjamin Chulu in Lilongwe yesterday, the suspects pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Following a plea of not guilty, State prosecutor Moja Phiri told the court that the State will parade 14 witnesses to prove the case against the nine suspects.
Lawyer for the suspects George Kadzipatike asked the court to grant the suspects bail, arguing that every person is entitled to bail under the Constitution.
Said the lawyer: “We are aware that the right to bail is not absolute, it is subject to interest of justice being satisfied. If suspects are granted bail, the interest of justice will be satisfied. The suspects will be able to attend trial to the end.”
Kadzipatike further told the court that the suspects have no reason to jump bail as they are convinced that they did not commit the crimes they are accused of.
However, Phiri objected to the bail application, arguing that the suspects would interferewith State witnesses if granted bail, since both the suspects and witnesses reside in Lilongwe.
The State prosecutor also informed the court that the State has already opened another case for the suspects, hence there is a risk that the suspects will jump bail as they are also expected to answer other 10 serious offences.
Said Phiri: “We strongly object to releasing of suspects on bail or any other way.”
To substantiate the objection for bail, the State paraded case investigator Steven Simwera to testify on why the suspects should not be granted bail.
The investigator told the court that some of the suspects went into hiding when police were looking for them, while others are still on the run.
Principal resident magistrate Chulu then reserved his ruling on the bail application to today.
The suspects were arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday in Lilongwe after police investigations
