Dar es Salaam: Lissu rages at terrorism charges on Lwakatare

BY EMMANUEL ONYANGO.

Attorneys to Chadema’s Defense and Security Director Wilfred Lwakatare yesterday filed an application in the High Court in Dar es Salaam seeking for annulling of the fresh charges leveled against their client by the Director of the Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Lead advocate Tundu Lissu told a press conference yesterday that the DPP had not conducted himself fairly in relation to their client.

“The defense counsel is of the opinion that the decision by the DPP to enter a nolle prosequi for the case No. 37/2013 and the tactfully turn around and reopen the case as No. 6/2013 with another magistrate is open interference in the administration of justice,” he said. 

The defence was of the view that the decision by DPP has denied the magistrate who was hearing the case an opportunity to rule on a case that had just started on the bail of the accused. 

In view of this, the defence lawyers have filed a case under a certificate of urgency seeking the annulment of fresh charges against their client.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Guardian yesterday at the High Court premises,  Lissu said that they have filed the  application alongside with the certificate of urgency so that the High Court could hasten the judicial process.

“We have filed an application, requesting the High Court to intervene and see if the government through the DPP has done the rightful decision against our client,” he said, noting that they want the High Court to go over the first and the second files to verify if the procedure used followed protocol was in accordance with the law.

The defence team wants to know the circumstances that led to the suspension of the earlier case, as they feel that the decision by DPP over the matter was an abuse of the judicial process.

According to Lissu, if the High Court agrees to the request, the prosecution will be forced to withdraw the second charge sheet   filed on Wednesday and proceed with the first one.

Lissu asserted that though the DPP has the mandate to drop and reopen a case as he may deem fit, in this case the defence regards the action as misuse of office power, that it was not in the national interest or the interest for justice.

The vocal parliamentarian and activist underlined that had the DPP really wanted to reopen the case, new charges would have been entered and not the same ones they had just been withdrawn by entering a nolle prosequi.

Lwakatare was arraigned for terrorism on Monday last week and   released after one week following the DPP’s decision not to proceed with the case, and in a dramatic turn of events, the CHADEMA official was rearrested outside the court and the DPP filed the charges that the defense is disputing.

The Chadema director remains in custody until the next court   mention slated for April 2013.

Lwakatare and his co-accused were arrested on four counts including conspiracy to kidnap the Mwananchi Chief Editor Dennis Msacky.

Their arrest followed the posting of a video clip on social media that purported to link the two with kidnap and torture conspiracy.

They were remanded despite that the court was on Thursday expected to set the date for a bail hearing, upon which the DPP changed the charges to terrorism, which has no bail option. 

 SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN (23/03/2013): http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=52666