No show for accused court official

The Principal Bench Clerk in the Administration of Justice in Francistown, Patrick Gaborekwe, who is accused of stealing criminal dockets belonging to two convicted rapists, failed to appear before Regional Magistrate Mathaka Masilo on Friday.

It is alleged that Gaborekwe connived jointly with Meshack Morapedi and Future Gobagoba to defeat the ends of justice. Gaborekwe is accused of stealing two docket files in which Morapedi and Gobagoba were convicted of rape.

It is also alleged that on the 11th of November 2015 the two convicts received the stolen dockets near Engine filling station from the Bench Clerk.On Friday, the State Prosecutor, Omphimetse Mashiqa told the court that the accused was not in attendance and that his office had received information of his absence on the day of the case only that morning.

“We received a report showing that he is sick this morning. In view of the document we shall not be making any application,” he explained. Mushiga reported that investigations have been completed and that he will submit the docket to the Directorate Public Prosecutions (DPP) next week.

“I am a prosecutor at the Magistrate court so I may not be sufficiently detached,” said Mushiga adding that he is preventing a situation in which he will at some point find himself being a prosecutor and a witness at the same time. “This is to prevent conflict of interest,” he said.

The prosecutor later pleaded with the Magistrate that the matter be set for mention in four weeks’ time.Kagiso Jani who appeared for the convicted rapists on bail requested to be furnished with the files which were allegedly stolen so that he could peruse them and formulate supplementary grounds of appeal.

The Magistrate agreed with Jani’s request to have access to the files. “It has been a big problem trying to access them.” However Mashiqa dismissed Jani’s complaint saying as a lawyer, no one could stop him from accessing his clients’ files if he wanted to access them because it is allowed by law.

He accused Jani of not having communicated his request.The Magistrate ordered the prosecutor to give Jani the file which he said he would do in a period of a week.

Case continues on the 25th of March 2016