Phase II judgement set for November
15 Oct 2024
Senior magistrate, Kamogelo Mmesi of Extension II Magistrate Court will on November 11 deliver judgment for a trial-within-trial of the infamous Phase II shooting following a bank robbery on February 23, 2022
The crux of the trial-within-trial was the admissibility of a confession statement made by the sole survivor of the shooting, Tsaone Reboeleng. The defence argued that the statement should not be admitted before court as it was coerced out of the defendant, while the prosecution maintained that it was made voluntarily.
Narrating the events of the day, Reboeleng said after she was shot on the waist on that fateful day, she was discharged two days later, only to be taken straight to Extension II Magistrate Court to make the confession statement.
"Before I went there, the police had told me that what I saw should not be part of the statement, but that I should only write what they told me to write, threatening to kill me like they did to my friend if I do the contrary," she said, referring to one Phenyo whom she said was shot dead in her presence.
She said that, coupled with prior torturing, actual assault and threats to her life, she was therefore not in the right frame of mind to make any voluntary statement.
"It was the first time I saw so many people dead and I was still in pain. I was not emotionally, psychologically or physically right to sign the confession statement," she said.
She said having seen the police shoot someone, she had no doubt that she too could be shot. Reboeleng said on February 26, the police came to her again with many blank papers to sign, of which she refused, only to sign after she was told that she would be denied much needed painkillers and scheduled check up at the hospital.
After the narration, Reboeleng's attorney, Kgosietsile Ngakayagae labeled the confession the worst version of an involuntary statement he had ever seen.
"The experience and pain my client was subjected to was worse than extracting a tooth without anaesthetic, and it is a shock that the prosecution still maintains it was voluntary," he said.
He said that in the context of the circumstances, there was no how the statement could be accepted in court as voluntary.
"Wheeling someone straight out of theatre and expecting them to make a voluntary statement is unheard of," he said.
However, state prosecutor, Mr Pascal Mhandu indicated that the statement was voluntary as the accused indicated such before the magistrate who took it from her.
"When the magistrate asked you if you were making the statement our of your own volition you answered in the affirmative, you never told her that you were not in the right mind nor forced. You also told the magistrate that you do not have any injuries upon enquiry," he said.
Mr Mhandu also accused Reboeleng of not being honest with the court in her narration of events as she exaggerated some bits to attract sympathy.
"You lied about lack of knowledge on what was happening at the house, although you were responsible to know since you were the one who rented the house," he said.
He also accused her of deliberately underestimating the number of those preset at the house to five instead of the actual 10.
"The fact that you also failed to open for the police when they knocked and identified themselves, nor peer through the window if your ever suspected their identity indicated that your were aware of why they were there," he said.
Mr Mhandu also accused Reboeleng of lying that she was deliberately shot by the police while she knew that she was caught under crossfire. He also wondered why the police would shoot her friend whom she said indicated willingness to confess, and safe her while she was uncooperative.
Mr Mhandu said that according to witnesses, Reboeleng was taken to Extension II clinic around 6pm after her injury, contrary to what she told the court that she only got medical help in the wee hours of February 24.
"One wonders why you never challenged those witnesses," he said.
Mr Mhandu also accused Reboeleng of lying that she was deliberately shot by the police while she knew that she was caught under crossfire. He also wondered why the police would shoot her friend whom she said indicated willingness to confess, and safe her while she was uncooperative.
Mr Mhandu said that according to witnesses, Reboeleng was taken to Extension II clinic around 6pm after her injury, contrary to what she told the court that she only got medical help in the wee hours of February 24.
"One wonders why you never challenged those witnesses," he said, and also disputed her version of lack of emergency doctors on the day at a hospital the magnitude of Princess Marina.
After judgment on the admissibility of the confession statement, it is then that the matter will continue to trial.
Source : BOPA
Author : Olekantse Sennamose
Location : Gaborone
Event : court case
Date : 15 Oct 2024
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