25 Jan 2023

 Two of the four accused persons in the alleged murder of a Kopong woman, Barulaganye Aston will await February 6 to know whether their third shot at bail succeeds.

The accused persons, Outlwile Aston, who was the husband to the deceased, and Gaolemogwe Kosie had applied for bail before the Broadhurst magistrate, Ms Jobbie Moilatshimo which was denied, leading them to appeal to the high court, where it was similarly dismissed.

However, lawyers, Dr Obonye Jonas and Kagisano Tamocha representing Aston and Kosie respectively, argued that there have since been some change in circumstances, which warranted new bail applications for bail.

Mr Tamocha argued that one of the reasons his client was denied bail by both courts was that he was likely to interfere with witnesses, among them being one of his neighbours as well as Aston’s six year old son.

“The change of circumstances is that the investigating officers have since managed to record a statement from the six year old, which means that my client can no longer interfere with him. On the issue of interfering with his neighbour, my client is willing to relocate to Kanye where he has another abode,” he argued.

On the issue of his client being considered a flight risk, he said that was unlikely looking at past circumstances. “He was arrested in Mahalapye two days after the alleged incident, which is close to 200km away. If at all he wanted to escape to South Africa as the prosecution alleges, then he could have crossed same day of alleged crime at the Tlokweng border which is a few kilometers from scene of crime,” he said.

He said his client, if he was willing, also had another chance to cross the border when the police called him while in Mahalapye. Arguing for his client, Dr Jonas meanwhile indicated that he was not interfering with witnesses as the prosecution alleged.

“The prosecution does not yet have a list of potential witnesses, so as it stands, my client has a right to speak to whoever he wants. He cannot be accused of speaking to witnesses while the prosecution itself does not even know who its witnesses will be,” he said.

Dr Jonas also said that contrary to the prosecution’s argument, there was no limit as to how many times bail could be applied for, and that a lower court could change the decision of a higher court as long as circumstances have changed.

On the alleged interference with witnesses by his client, Dr Jonas said the allegations do not connect with his client in anyway. He was responding after the prosecution, through investigating officer, detective inspector Quiet Zhalamoto indicated that on January 12 this year, the accused’s son indicated that he received a call from one Phillip Molwantwa, who is Aston’s cousin, who told him he just visited his father in prison, and continued to make suspicious enquiries.

“He asked him where he and his siblings stayed, whether he often checked his father at prison and whether he and his siblings could place their father at the scene of crime,” he said. Detective Inspector Zhalamoto further indicated that he managed to trace Molwantwa and arrested him on January 23, and that under interrogation, he admitted having made the call, which was further confirmed by data from his network provider.

“Under interrogation, he said he was acting on an anonymous call from someone who said he was sent by Aston,” he said. He indicated that they were still in the process of tracing the owner of the said anonymous call, which he said might take time as it was a long process.

He however, said that preliminary investigations into the lead indicated that indeed Molwantwa received the said call. The prosecutor, Ms Seeletso Ookeditse also told the court that contrary to Dr Jonas’ argument that his client had no way of knowing that his son was a potential witness could not suffice as he was aware that his statement was to be recorded.

“If someone gives a statement then it makes them a potential witnesses, and my learned colleague’s client was aware that his son was to give a statement after undergoing counselling,” she said. ENDS