Court releases Kabwila on bail: Magistrate says bail is a fundamental right

January 14, 2020 Alfred Chauwa - Nyasa Times 14 Comments

Senior Resident Magistrate Shyreen Yona Chirwa has granted bail to rights activist and politician Jessie Kabwila who faces two charges  in accordance to criminal procedures and evidence code following her arrest on Saturday night in Lilongwe.

Kabwila sympathisers jubilation as she is released on bail
Kabwila: If the court makes an unfair judgment in elections case, this country will smell smoke

The Magistrate observed that the State has failed to prove that if Kabwila is given bail she could commit further crimes.

Magistrate Yona observed that bail is a fundamental right which is given to avoid pre-trial punishment.

The court gave three bail conditions which included reporting to Area 30 or Area 3 Police station, seek permission everytime she wants to travel.

The court further ordered that she pays cash bond of K20,000 and two sureties of K200,000 non cash bond .

Kabwila has been charged with the first count of proposing violence at an assembly, contrary to Section 87 subSection 1 (A) of the Penal Code.

On this count, police are accusing the former parliamentarian for Salima North West of making a statement “calculated or likely to incite violence or induce persons to assemble to do physical harm to persons or damage property by urging the gathering to deal with persons supporting the chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission [MEC] Justice Jane Ansah”.

She has also been charged with an offence of uttering words to the prejudice of judicial proceedings contrary to Section 113 subSection 1 (D) of the Penal Code.

The charge sheet indicates that Kabwila, on January 9 this year, made a speech to the prejudice of the impending judicial judgement to be delivered by a five-judge panel in the constitutional case concerning the May 21 2019 presidential results.

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14 replies on “Court releases Kabwila on bail: Magistrate says bail is a fundamental right”

  1. Good she toned down in her statements yessterday. One thing she has obviously learned is kuyankhula mwa ulemu and ignoring opsyepsyezera – poona kuti anagonako yekha…..kkkkkkk

  2. It is, of course, right to not deny Ms Kabwila bail, in our justice system.
    Nevertheless, she has a serious case to answer: threatening officials who deliver justice in this country. The Courts have to come down hard on Ms Kabwila, otherwise judges and prosecutors will be looking over their shoulders to see who has the knives out before every judgment. And we can’t have that.
    No sane judge or magistrate should be lenient on Ms Kabwila in this case: otherwise the same “snake” will come back to bite her/him.
    And this “snake” has shown the tendency to be reckless with allegations in the political arena for ever.

  4. palibepo nkhani apa ingokhalani pheee muwone zimene zikubwelazi ngati enanu simuzakomoka kapena kupitilila ndi mwayi. Ndikutengeleni mu BIBLE , Herod analimbana ndi mwana wa YAHWEH chimene chinachitika ndi ichi YAHWEH anamuuza kuti ufa ndipo tsiku lomwelo mphusi zizakudya tsiku lomwelo ndipo zinachitika monga mwa mawu a YAHWEH. Nde muwone zimene zizachitike inu phee ndati eeeee

  6. KKKKK kabwila iwe what do you mean by unfair judgement? Why behaving as uneducated? Don’t you know that a case between two parties there is always one winner? In which case court’s judgement will always be fair to the other and unfair to the other. I shall always remember what late Shadrick Wame said. “Mbuli zophunzira zawononga dziko”. This is exactly what he meant!

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