Lilongwe Magistrate Court has granted bail to the remaining 12 people from Msundwe who are answering a charge of endangering life of road users after they blocked the Lilongwe-Mchinji road on October 8 this year.
The 12 suspects are believed to have blocked the road in reaction to a public rally that President Peter Mutharika was addressing at Kamuzu Institute for Sports in Lilongwe.
Delivering the bail ruling, Senior Resident Magistrate Florence Msekandiana ordered the 12 accused persons to pay K20, 000 cash as bail bond and K100, 000 none cash surety.
Speaking to YFM, lawyer representing the 12 accused Sylvester Ayuba James expressed delight with the court’s bail ruling citing his argument on bail conditions.
“Generally the state said it wouldn’t be in the interest of justice to release the accused persons on bail citing several reasons.
“Firstly that they may commit further offences and that offences of this type are becoming common along Lilongwe-Mchinji road and also that the accused persons may not have the financial means to be attending court if released on bail.”
“We looked at the arguments and told the court that the state should not just come out and make allegations about the condition of the accused persons without proving those allegations.”
In a related development, Lilongwe Magistrate Court will on October 21 this year rule whether the 19 accused persons that were arrested on 6 August in connection to looting during anti-jane Ansah demos have a case to answer.
The accused, who are answering a charge of breaking into a one of the shops belonging to MOVESA group of companies and committed a felony, have pleaded not guilty.
