22 Nov 2017

A 37-year-old man of Jwaneng, Benjamin Magosi has been remanded in custody for the murder of Mogomotsi Boresetse on November 11, 2017.

The deceased died shortly after a widely publicised fight that erupted between Jwaneng residents and the notorious crew commonly known as Matsetsenkane.

The investigating officer, Constable Otshidile Popo pleaded with the court to remand the accused person in custody as the case was still fresh and investigations were still at an initial stage.

He said the incident happened between November 10 and 11, therefore they were yet to record statements from the deceased’s parents, friends, the accused person’s friends and all other people who were present at the crime scene.

He also informed the court that the accused person had already interfered with investigations by interrogating the deceased’s friends who were potential witnesses in the case.

He further said they had potential witnesses who were willing to submit their statements, but feared the accused person.

Consequently, he submitted that the investigating team be given a chance to collect as much information as possible since that was a serious case where a life was lost and  involved a lot of people and potential witnesses.

In response, the accused person pleaded with the court to grant him bail so that he could look for money to engage a defence attorney since he was unemployed.

He denied that he had interrogated witnesses and promised not to interfere with investigations.

Magosi, whose plea has been reserved for a later stage, said even though initially his life was at risk due to threats that were on social media, a police officer was assigned to ensure his safety.

He also noted that he had lodged a case with the police regarding those threats, hence the escort.

Even though he acknowledged that he was not aware of neither the threat case registered by the accused nor the escort arrangement accorded to him, Constable Popo said the accused’s submissions were proof that his life was in danger and would be safer to be remanded in custody.

He said the alleged arrangement of police escort would not be effective because Constable Dipampiri whom the accused person mentioned had other duties besides guarding the accused person.

Additionally, he said the officer stayed at Unit 2, while the accused stayed at Unit 3, something which made it impossible to guard him all the time.

The prosecution, led by Sub-Inspector Edwin Supang submitted that giving bail to the accused person would compromise investigations as alluded to by the investigating officer, Costable Popo.

He said based on the principles of bail, it was indisputable that the accused person was innocent until proven guilty and that provided he would not abscond.

However, he said there was a clear indication that the accused would interfere with investigations and compromise the case.

He also said the case had attracted a lot of attention from the public, which was likely to compromise the safety of the accused person.

The magistrate said even though the accused person was innocent until proven guilty, the court had to also taken into consideration society’s concern that accused persons were given bail even those facing serious offences such as murder.

She said the court had to balance the interests of the accused, the state as well as the society.

She emphasised the need for the investigating team to be given ample time to do their work since the matter was still fresh.

She said even though she was not in dispute that the case had attracted attention from the public, the idea of a personal escort to the accused person would not be feasible because the same courtesy could not be accorded to other accused people.

She ordered that the accused person be remanded in custody to give investigators time and also urged them to expedite their investigations within reasonable time.

The case is scheduled for another mention on December 5. ENDS