The Blantyre Chief Resident Magistrate (CRM) Court has started hearing from defence witnesses in a case in which Dutch national Wim Akster is answering five charges related to sodomy.
CRM Paul Chiotcha commenced hearing from the defence yesterday and is expected to continue doing so until Friday this week.
The defence, through lawyer Michael Goba Chipeta, is expected to parade at least 16 witnesses, including the accused person, in defence of Akster in the charges.
Speaking during the recent hearing, Chipeta told the court that he planned to present three witnesses on that day [Monday] but that he could only present two because one of them was excused after falling sick.
“I have filed an updated defence bundle, which includes the files which were not available during the last court session. I also have two witnesses who are ready to testify,” Chipeta said.
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He also asked the court to consider that yesterday [Tuesday]’s hearing session be done during the afternoon hours, saying he would be engaged in another case before the High Court in the morning.
In reaction, State lawyer Victor Jere appealed to the court to revoke the accused person’s bail, and consider that he [Akster] be the first to present defence witnesses, according to Section 256 (3) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code.
“Where an accused elects to call witnesses other than himself, on his behalf, he shall do so after he himself has been called as a witness,” the Penal Code reads.
Chiotcha agreed with the State and ordered Akster to start testifying that same day, despite him not being on the list of defence witnesses for the day, as earlier presented by the defence lawyer.
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In his witness statement, Akster told the court that he was among the founders of Timotheos Foundation, adding that he did not commit the alleged crimes.
Akster said, since 2011, when he and colleagues established the foundation, he made significant achievements such that, by 2019, when he stopped operating in the management of the foundation, it had accumulated assets close to about 2 million United States (US) dollars.
Akster suspected that the achievement played a role in making some people within the board of the foundation in the Netherlands jealous of him, leading to plots aimed at recalling and replacing him with another person to oversee operations of the foundation in Malawi.
He further told the court that he did not hire some people [State witnesses] who previously claimed to have fallen victim to sodomy-related cases levelled against him.
Akster said the allegations were set up by some people who wanted to take over Akster’s position at the foundation.
During cross-examination, Jere brought two letters: one reportedly signed by Akster’s brother and another one from the former board chairperson of Timotheos Foundation, which alleged that the accused confirmed to have committed the crime in private conversations.
In a letter addressed to Jere, the accused person’s brother said: “I repeatedly told Wim that he should confess and stop abusing men, including young men. For a very long time, out of shame, I concealed the fact that Wim had also raped me when I was young. I kept this hidden until a few months ago when I told my wife everything.”
On the other hand, a letter from the person [name withheld], who was the board chairperson for Timotheos Foundation by then, reads: “On 16th April, one day after his arrest, Wim Akster called me from the police cell. During the conversation, I asked him what he had done and whether the accusations were true. He replied that the accusations were partly true and partly untrue.”
During the last court hearing, Jere also brought before the court a similar letter from the “sister” of the accused.
However, Akster described the content of the letters as “untrue” and was resistant to confirm authorisation to have the documents used as part of his current case.
The court then adjourned the case to today afternoon, ordering the State to prepare for the continuation of cross-examination of defence witnesses.
Jere said he was satisfied with progress made in the case.
“We are happy because we are making progress,” Jere said.
