Susu wants his child abuse case dismissed
China national Lu Ke, widely known as Susu, is seeking dismissal of a case where he is accused of abusing children from Njewa in Lilongwe Rural.
The Lilongwe Senior Resident Magistrate’s Court has since set this Thursday to hear Susu’s application. The suspect is also seeking court bail, according to court documents.
Defence lawyer Andy Kaonga yesterday said the suspect wants the court to dismiss all the charges levelled against him because he was illegally taken from Zambia without any extradition hearing.
He said Susu was also seeking a court bail which was earlier denied by the same court. The lawyer said his client had overstayed on remand and that the State arrested him without proper evidence, as such, should be granted bail.
Said Kaonga: “The State arrested him, but never had the evidence against him, having served us the last bundle only in November for an arrest in June.
“In addition, the suspect was illegally taken from Zambia without any extradition hearing, and if he were to be expelled from Zambia, he should have been expelled to his home country in China and not Malawi as there was no extradition request made.”
In a separate interview, Ministry of Justice principal State advocate Mathews Gamadzi confirmed being served the applications for both bail and case dismissal, but could not express the stand of the State on the matter before the court hearing.
He said: “I can confirm with you that the defence wants the case to be dismissed on grounds that he was unlawfully extradited from Zambia to Malawi and also that he has overstayed in custody.
“I can’t say anything beyond this until we meet in court.”
Susu, which means uncle in Chinese, was arrested in Zambia in July last year and extradited to Malawi following a BBC Africa Eye’s investigation which exposed his alleged exploitation of children in Njewa village in his production and commercial streaming of racist videos.
In the videos, which could reportedly be sold at around $70 on auction in China, according to the BBC documentary, Susu would organise the children and ask them to repeat after him racially derogatory words that the children did not understand.
The State charged him with 14 counts, including procurement of children for use of entertainment, trafficking in children, illegal use of the Internet and harmful social practices. He has been on remand at Maula Prison in Lilongwe since his arrest.
The case was last heard in court on November 11 2022. However, the transfer of presiding senior resident magistrate James Mankhwazi is said to have stalled its progress.
