Former minister, Saviour Kasukuwere has failed to appear in court and the State now wants to forfeit his leisure home in Nyanga. Kasuk...
Former minister, Saviour Kasukuwere has failed to appear in
court and the State now wants to forfeit his leisure home in Nyanga.
Kasukuwere on January 10 successfully applied for his
passport back on the grounds he wanted to travel to South Africa for medical
attention and the State did not oppose the application, saying it was convinced
by documents from his doctor confirming the medical check-up.
He was supposed to return the passport on January 17, and
his failure to do so prompted the State to apply for an arrest warrant.
Kasukuwere’s lawyer Advocate Thembinkosi Magwaliba, said that
his client is not yet fit to stand trial.
The prosecutor told the court that if Kasukuwere was able
to visit the hospital on a weekly basis, he was also able to visit the court on
the days he was not seeing his doctor.
He then applied to have his Nyanga property forfeited to
the State basing on section 133 (a) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.
“He is not detained in a hospital, but making weekly
visits, so what is stopping him from coming to court so that the court can
decide whether trial should proceed or not.
“We are looking at section 133 (a) and see if the court can
order forfeiture of the accused’s property on default. The accused is enjoying
life in South Africa and benefiting from revenue realised from the Nyanga
property, while nothing is being done to the property by the State. This will
mean that section 133 is unhelpful to the justice delivery system.”
In response, Advocate Magwaliba opposed the application
maintaining that Kasukuwere was unwell and would attend trial when he is fit.
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