By Cathy Maulidi:
It was a whole day of going round and round on the issue evidence in the corruption case involving Vice President Saulos Chilima.
This was so as the State (Anti-Corruption Bureau) is yet to furnish the defence with full disclosures of the case which is being heard by the High Court financial crimes division judge Redson Kapindu.
Chief Legal and Prosecution Officer for the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Chrispin Khunga told the court Friday, that the State has furnished the defence with some disclosures and will furnish the others later in two weeks’ time.
He also informed the court that ACB is failing to get some requested information from the National Crimes Agency (NCA) because the UK-based agency wants the defence to prove relevance of the requested information.
ACB is also yet to furnish the defence with some evidence which the state requested to defend their case.
This evidence is on the conversation that the Vice President is said to have had with businessperson Zunneth Sattar.
Khunga told the court that the defence can have a look at this evidence at their office to avoid having other unrelated information passed out to the defence.
“We are asking that they should come to our office because the gadget has other information that is private,” Khunga said.
At present ACB is also yet to furnish the defence with some disclosures which Khunga told the court it has to be requested from some institutions.
Lawyer representing Chilima, Kalekeni Kaphale, also insisted that full disclosures must be made before Chilima takes plea.
“Our client is being forced to stand trial yet information about his wrong doing is being hidden. Tell the National Crimes Agency (NCA) about the rights of the accused person in Malawi. In 2023, an accused person cannot go to trial blindfolded,” Kaphale said.
In his ruling, Justice Kapindu said the State must make full disclosures in order to accord Chilima a fair trial.
“The state is the accuser; this is why the disclosure of all evidence has to be made. The court wishes to make it clear that from the start of these proceedings it has encouraged the need for the state to provide the disclosures to the defense in good time.
“By providing any and complete disclosures, the prosecution promotes transparency, facilitates the defense’s preparation and helps preparation. The court wishes to emphasise that fairness is a cornerstone of Malawian criminal justice system. An accused person must know the case against them and have reasonable opportunity to challenge the evidence,” Kapindu said in his ruling.
The court has adjourned the case to September 25 2023. This is when the court will make further directions and give a ruling on the contentious issues raised in Friday’s hearing.
