MBABANE: Confidential documents from Advocate GJ Leppan to the Director of Public Prosecutions(DPP) Phila Dlamini exposes how Judge Mumcy Dlamini denied bail to arrested pro-democracy Members of Parliament(MPs) despite the lack of evidence amounting to reasonable belief that they committed a crime.
As per electronic evidence released by this Swaziland News, Army Commander Jeffery Shabalala disclosed that the order to arrest pro-democracy MPs Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube was issued by King Mswati.
It has been disclosed that after the arrest of the MPs, the Judge postponed the bail hearing judgement to consult with the authorities despite that the matter was filed on urgent basis, she subsequently denied them bail.
But now, it has emerged that Judge Dlamini did not rely on any evidence provided by the Crown suggesting that indeed there was reasonable believe that the MPs committed a crime and that it was in the interest of justice not to release them.
“Having perused the available material thus far, it is apparent that there is no one source of evidence that proves the case against one or more of the suspects, but rather presents a mosaic, which at this stage, does not contain all the required pieces, and it is thus to these missing pieces, that thus Memorandum is directed. A perusal of the translated statements of Mabuza and Dube reveals that contents therefore are not necessarily consistent with the Affidavits deposed to by certain persons who were present when the speeches were made”, read the documents from the Advocate who was engaged by the DPP’s office.
The Advocate subsequently submitted a legal bill of One hundred and Thirty-Eight Thousand, three hundred and twenty Emalangeni (E138,320.00) for the evidence analysis and other legal services.
But it appeared that the judicial syndicate involving Judge Mumcy Dlamini that was commanded by Mswati to persecute the MPs was under pressure to arrest them without any evidence.
Close analyses of the documents from the Advocates corroborates electronic evidence released by this Swaziland News in substantiating that the MPs were arrested without any evidence, however Senior Superintendent Clement Sihlongonyane grabbed their cellphones after their arrest to start the investigation.
On or around 09 August 2021, Judge Mumcy Dlamini who was allegedly acting on a royal order from Mswati denied the MPs bail, she accused them of making mere denials against the allegations leveled against them.
But a Magistrate who was asked to share his legal opinion on this matter said even though the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act requires a person applying for bail to prove before the court that circumstances allowed him to be released, it remained a Constitutional right to release a suspect unless the Prosecutor proved that doing so would not be in the interest of justice.
“In this case, the constitutional right of the MPs under Section 16(7) allows the court to grant them bail because there is the word “shall”. This means legally speaking, Section 96(12) of the Criminal Procedure requires the accused to demonstrate before court that due to circumstances of the case, must be granted bail and this cannot override the provision of the Constitution being the Supreme law of the land. A bail is a Constitutional right unless the prosecutor demonstrates before the court that circumstances of the case suggest that the accused must not be granted bail. But here, it was clear that the MPs were arrested without any evidence so the prosecutors did not prove anything. You investigate first and then arrest not to arrest and then investigate” ,said the Magistrate whose name cannot be revealed for ethical reasons.
Sibusiso Nhlabatsi, a human rights lawyer said the advice from the Advocates was a huge blow to the State’s case adding that the MPs were not supposed to charged in the first place.
“This is confirmation of the fact that the charges are not legal but politically motivated. But obviously, the State is not enjoined by the law to take the advise, they may want to pursue their own political course as it appears that they are determined to. I think what has been leaked just waters down whatever the case the State think they may have”, said the human rights lawyer.
On or around 18th August 2021, this Swaziland News in collaboration with the The Bridge published a story exposing how the Advocates hired by Government stated categorically clear that there was no evidence against the arrested MPs who were leading calls for democratic reforms in Parliament.
Judge Mumcy Dlamini