Latest news with #CriminalProcedureandEvidenceCode
Eyewitness News
3 days ago
- General
- Eyewitness News
Bushiris argue Malawian magistrate committed legal errors when ordering their extradition to SA
JOHANNESBURG - Wanted fugitives, Shepherd and Mary Bushiri, have argued that the chief resident magistrate in Malawi committed legal errors when she ordered their extradition. The pair launched a review application before the High Court in Lilongwe to review the judgment of the court, which ordered that they face the music in South Africa. This was after the South African government applied for their extradition to answer to a string of charges after they fled the country in 2020, contravening their bail conditions. But the couple is challenging that judgment on 15 grounds. Section 140 subsection 1 of Malawi's Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code provides that every judgment must have the points that must be determined, the decision of the court and the reasons for it. The Bushiris argue that the magistrate's court had no jurisdiction to hear the matter as their arrest was not in compliance with the Extradition Act. They submit that this was not just a mere technicality but constitutes non-compliance with the law, which effectively barred their arrest and the proceedings that continued before the court were a miscarriage of justice. The fugitives want the judgment of the magistrate's court reviewed and set aside.
Eyewitness News
3 days ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Bushiris file application in Malawi court to review judgment ordering their extradition to SA
JOHANNESBURG - Self-proclaimed prophet, Shepherd Bushiri, and his wife, Mary, have filed a review application before the high court of Malawi of the judgment that ordered their extradition to South Africa. In March this year, the chief resident magistrate in Lilongwe ordered that the couple be extradited following a request by South Africa. They were arrested on a string of charges against them, including fraud and money laundering. The controversial pair fled to their home country in 2020 after failing to comply with their bail conditions, leading to South Africa's extradition request. In papers before the high court in Malawi, the controversial couple argued that the chief magistrate erred in law by breaching the fundamental principles of natural justice. They argued that the chief magistrate delivered her final ruling on South Africa's extradition request without affording them an opportunity to defend themselves. This, they argued, was contrary to Malawi's constitution, the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code and the Extradition Act. This, the duo submitted, flew in the face of the audi alteram partem rule, which means listen to the other side. They intend to argue that it would be unjust or oppressive to surrender them to South Africa. EWN has learnt that the pair's review application may be heard in July.
