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| National |
| Court grants bail to lawyer and cellphone investor |
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by
Pilirani Semu-Banda, 17 May 2005
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12:11:07
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The Soche Magistrates Court on Monday refused to return a passport and an air ticket to a South African investor Petroklas Tsaperas, director of a third cellular network called Malawi Mobile Limited (MML), who was arrested on Friday evening together with lawyer Khuze Kapeta.
Police indicated during the court session that they were also looking for former Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) board chair Abdul Pillane who is in South Africa to answer the same charges as Tsaperas and Kapeta.
Both Kapeta and Tsaperas were charged with forging a Macra licence on the cellular network and uttering a false document to extend an agreement to which they pleaded not guilty.
Tsaperas came into the country last Tuesday to participate in a case where he has sued Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) for threatening to revoke his licence only to be arrested on Friday as he was coming out of the High Court while Kapeta surrendered himself to the police on Saturday.
Both men were granted bail last Saturday by High Court judge Frank Kapanda who ordered that bail conditions should be imposed by the Soche Magistrate’s Court.
But Magistrate Sylvester Chilombo said on Monday he was tied by a High Court order which ruled that Tsaperas surrender his travelling documents, adding that his is a lower court which cannot overrule any High Court decisions.
“Both accused persons should not go out of the country without the knowledge of the police,” said Chilombo.
He also ordered that the two should not interfere with any state witnesses, should report to police every fortnight and pay a noncash surety of K30,000 each.
Chilombo’s orders came despite a strong battle against the state’s plea made by Regional (South) Prosecutions Officer Mcleod Mulonda to impose bail conditions on Kapeta and Tsaperas.
Mulonda argued that MML does not exist and that this is why the matter is in court and that Tsaperas should not be given his documents back because South Africa “is very far away” and that it would be difficult to have him appear for court.
“In fact, the principal witness a Mr. Abdul Pillane is expected back soon and he will immediately be taken to police and hearing will start,” said Mulonda.
But Tsaperas’ three lawyers Viva Nyimba, Chimwemwe Kalua and Michael Mtambo argued that Tsaperas has already invested K200 million in the country for his company and that he needed his travelling documents as a foreign investor since his job entails a lot of travelling.
“He’s not such a person who can run away from an offence where he would also like to clear his name. He knows the court will not find him guilty,” said Nyimba.
Mtambo argued that South Africa is within Malawi’s “arm’s reach” and that Interpol could help if Tsaperas were to run away while Kalua said there are receipts which Macra gave to MML for payment made which show that the company exists.
Kapeta’s lawyer Patrice Nkhono had also argued that his client is a “very eminent legal practitioner whose integrity can’t be questioned” and that there was no need to impose any bail conditions on him.
Tsaperas said in an interview outside the court that once the court case is over he will reconsider his position to invest in the country and that he will need assurance from government that “I won’t be persecuted anymore”.
“It’s all dirty politics at work which will end up scaring away foreign investors. You don’t arrest an innocent person. I am surprised that this is becoming a police state,” said Tsaperas.
He said he will brief the Foreign Affairs Minister in South Africa on what has happened to him and call a press conference to tell them “the big story behind all this”.
Meanwhile Nyimba indicated that he was appealing to the High Court for it to give back Tsaperas his travel documents.
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