The Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Court adjourned the hearing of the extradition case involving Enlightened Christian Gathering Church leader Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary to this morning.
Defence lawyer Wapona Kita took State witness Sibongile Mzinyathi, who is also the Director of Public Prosecutions in South Africa, to task, asking if he was aware that four witnesses out of eight had withdrawn their sworn statements way back in 2018.
“If Bushiri goes to South Africa today, can the court find him guilty of allegations of rape in which the witnesses withdrew their sworn statements?” asked Kita.
The lawyer pressed Mzinyathi on why four witnesses withdrew from the case and whether the case could proceed without evidence.
However, Mzinyathi read the withdrawn sworn statements of all four witnesses, where they wrote that South African investigators had tried their best to implicate Bushiri in rape cases to build a case.
Speaking to journalists after the adjournment, Kita said today is expected to be the final day for cross-examination.
“We came to court to show that the rape case against Bushiri was fabricated, as the witnesses were coerced into providing statements by investigators,” Kita said.
He also argued that only three out of the 13 offences against the Bushiris are extraditable.
On his part, State lawyer Dzikondianthu Malunda said the case was proceeding as planned.
The Bushiris are wanted in South Africa over theft and fraud charges. They are alleged to have committed the offences while in the Rainbow Nation where they were leading ECG Church.
The Bushiris escaped from that country in 2020 following what they described as attempts on their lives and South Africa’s failure to offer them protection.
They were on bail the time they left the country through means which have not been made public to this day.
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