08 Dec 2019

Gaborone regional magistrate - South, Masilo Mathaka will tomorrow rule on whether the warrant of arrest issued against former Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DIS) director general Isaac Kgosi should be withdrawn or he should be jailed. 

The warrant against Kgosi, accused of disclosing the identity of DIS agents contrary to the law, was issued by Broadhurst Magistrate Tshepo Thedi in July for failing to report monthly to Broadhurst Police Station, since May 28, in contravention of his bail condition. 

When the case resumed on December 6, defence attorney Thabiso Tafila reiterated that Kgosi’s local doctor referred him for specialist treatment in Malaysia, where his condition was deemed serious, requiring surgery and close monitoring. 

According to the defence, in late June, following the expiry of his 30-day Malaysian permit, Kgosi spent up to mid-July in Israel before returning to Malaysia with a renewed permit to continue treatment and undergo surgery.

 The court heard that after surgery, Kgosi needed further monitoring and was only informed in November that his condition was now manageable. 

Attorney Tafila said throughout Kgosi’s stay outside the country, the defence had notified the state of his whereabouts through official communication from his doctors. 

But state counsel Thato Dibeela presented information gathered from the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) that Kgosi had spent the period September 2 to December 2 in Israel, and not Malaysia, which had not been communicated. 

She also noted that the Malaysian specialist affidavit stated that Kgosi had been ‘consulted over a video call’ technology, not in person. 

She pointed out that the accused entered Botswana only a day before resumption of trial, December 2, through the Ramotswa Border Gate,  where he was assisted manually since the electronic passport and border control system was down, meaning the Interpol alarm could not be triggered. 

At the instigation of his legal team, Kgosi took the stand to explain his three months in Israel. 

Under cross-examination, he revealed that after undergoing surgery in Malaysia late August, his doctor recommended hydrotherapy at Israel’s Dead Sea. 

Kgosi said due to religious differences between Israel and Malaysia, Israeli authorities did not stamp his passport both on entry and departure. 

He however produced documentary evidence of his entry into and exit out of Israel. 

He said his Malaysian specialist did not document his referral to Israel, owing to the tensions between that country and Islamic states. 

Defence attorneys Tafila and Unoda Mack argued Kgosi had sufficiently explained why he contravened his bail condition since leaving the country on May 28 and that since he was back, there was no longer any need for the arrest warrant. 

They further said in issuing the warrant, Magistrate Thedi had said Kgosi should be brought before court to show cause why he had not met the bail condition, which the defence had now satisfied. 

But Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP’s) attorney Dibeela said the defence had not been forthright over Kgosi’s whereabouts and only mentioned the hydrotherapy as an afterthought prompted by information in the state’s possession that the accused had not spent the last few months in Malaysia. 

Dibeela said since it was an undisputed fact that Kgosi had flouted the bail condition, he should be incarcerated, adding that the state would provide necessary facilities to cater for his medical condition. The court ruled that the warrant, suspended by Magistrate Mathaka when the case resumed on December 3, would remain suspended pending tomorrow’s ruling. ends