By Daniel Zimba:
The Chief Resident Magistrate (CRM) Court in Blantyre has revoked the bail of Wim Akster, a Dutch national accused of sodomising minors in 2020, when he was working for Timotheos Foundation, a local Christian charity.
CRM Paul Chiotcha announced the decision to revoke the bail yesterday, in favour of the State’s plea to decline the request from Akster’s defence, who sought to adjourn the case further.
According to Chiotcha, the defence failed to provide sufficient evidence of Akster’s illness and did not notify the court in advance of his failure to attend court Monday.
Both the defendant, Akster, and his lawyer, Fostino Maere, did not appear at the hearing, where they were represented by another lawyer Patrick Kalimbuka, who relayed the message of their absence.
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The court has been adjourning this case since 2020, with the most recent adjournment being from March 27, 2025 to yesterday.
Speaking during Monday’s hearing, Kalimbuka asked the court to adjourn the case further, because Akster had reportedly fallen ill, while Maere had another case in Lilongwe on the same day.
However, reacting to the request, State lawyer Victor Jere asked the court to decline the defendant’s plea, describing it as a deliberate move to delay the case further.
Jere said the failure of the defence to provide proof of Akster’s illness and their failure to follow proper procedure in making an excuse for not attending the hearing undermined the court and the judicial system at large.
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Therefore, Jere argued, there was no need to adjourn the case further.
He was of the view that the defence had planned to delay the case further because the accused person was enjoying his freedom on bail. Jere proposed that the accused’s bail be revoked as well.
“Since 2020, the only time the accused appeared before the court was when he was asking for bail; after that, it has been one excuse after another. So, this shows that someone is deliberately delaying the case here,” Jere said.
Akster was arrested in 2021 on charges of sodomising nine boys who were beneficiaries of a bursary initiative at the Timotheos Foundation, where he worked as a finance director.
In total, nine young men claimed they had non-consensual sex with the Dutch national in exchange for bursary support between 2018 and 2019, allegations which the accused denies.
In a written statement to the police, he argued that he had consensual relationships with the young men.
As part of his defence, he had petitioned the Constitutional Court to decriminalise homosexuality, an appeal which was dismissed by the court in June last year.
By press time, it was unclear whether Akster had been arrested as ordered by the court, which had revoked his bail.
