Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court has cancelled arrest warrants issued against former Human Rights Defenders Coalition leaders Gift Trapence, Timothy Mtambo and Rev MacDonald Sembereka after a dispute over wh
ether the criminal case from which they arose was still before the court.
Chief Resident Magistrate Austin Banda ruled in favour of the three activists, who had challenged the validity of the warrants on the basis that the underlying criminal matter had already been discontinued by the State.
Represented by lawyer Khwima Nchizi, the applicants argued that once the case was withdrawn in October 2020, the associated bail conditions automatically fell away.
They maintained that there was therefore no legal basis for the later issuance of arrest warrants.
The State opposed the application through Prescott Mwaiulipo, Director of Prosecutions for the Malawi Police Service.
He argued that the applicants had failed to produce sufficient evidence showing that the case had been formally withdrawn and contended that warrants of arrest remain in force until they are executed or cancelled by a court.
Central to the dispute were court records from 1 October 2020.
The records show that the matter came before magistrate Violet Chipao, with prosecutor Zangazanga appearing for the State.
According to the court record, the court ruled:
“On the State’s application the court proceeds to withdraw the case and by virtue of withdrawal the accused are set at liberty and all bail conditions fall.”
The applicants relied on that entry as evidence that the proceedings had come to an end and that no criminal matter remained before the court.
They argued that, in those circumstances, there could be no continuing obligation to comply with bail conditions and no basis for the subsequent warrants.
In his submissions, Nchizi said the central issue was whether there was any matter still alive before the court that would have necessitated the arrest of the applicants.
After hearing arguments from both sides, Austin Banda ordered that the warrants be cancelled, bringing to an end a legal challenge centred on the status of the 2020 proceedings and the contents of the court record.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
Follow us in Twitter