The High Court in Lilongwe has granted bail to 19 homicide remandees who have been at Maula Prison for a period between one and seven years without their trial commencing in court.
10 of the 19 were granted bail on Thursday while nine were released on Wednesday January 26, 2023.
The court process to grant the suspects bail was carried out by Legal Aid Bureau with assistance from the Paralegal Advisory Services Institute (PASI) after noting that prisons have a lot of people on remand whose cases are not being pursued.
The 19 that have recently been granted bail include 42-year-old Lazaro Banda who is suspected to have caused the death of his wife but his case has not been in court since been arrested in 2015.
Senior Legal Aid Advocate Ruth Harawa told Yoneco FM Online that one more remandee has his bail ruling pending and the court has directed that the rest will have their sureties examined by the Assistant Registrar of the High Court.
She said: “The one who hasn’t been granted bail is because of the circumstances of the cases but the court has directed that he should stay in remand for extra 90 days.
“If the State doesn’t bring him to court then we can make an early application for bail.”
Harawa added that camp court exercises are of positive impact because they assist in provision of legal representation to those who cannot afford and are in custody.
“It is very important and necessary for us to be conducting these exercises regularly because people who represent have insufficient means who can’t afford to hire private lawyers.
“So because they are in custody and cannot and they don’t have anyone out here to finance them us as Legal Aid lawyers it is very important that we help them because if we don’t do that, they will stay in custody for longer periods,” said Harawa.
Banda can now breathe a sigh of relief as with support from Legal Aid Bureau he has been granted bail by the High Court in Lilongwe. He is among 18 others who are to go home after staying in prison for years without their trial taking shape.
The Bureau with its partners continues to set up camp courts to enable people with insufficient means to have legal representation.
