Legal expert Thabo Molete says the five accused in the convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester’s case are likely to succeed in their bail application on Tuesday.
Senohe Matsoara and four others are appearing in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court where closing arguments will be heard before judgment is delivered.
They are charged with arson, defeating the ends of justice, fraud and assisting an inmate to escape.
Molete says the defence has to convince the state that the accused will not avoid trial.
“Today, we are reaching the rubicon, the point of no return. The attorneys for the applicants are gonna (going to) fight with everything that they have to demonstrate to the court that their clients are suitable candidates to be eligible for bail. That it will be in the interest of justice that their clients are going to come back to stand trial. And that they won’t intervene.”
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Meanwhile, Molete also says that Bester’s partner, Dr Nandipha Magudumana, has made the right decision by not applying for bail until her Free State High Court application has been heard.
In her urgent application, Magudumana wants the court to declare her arrest in Tanzania alongside Bester unlawful.
Molete says if Magudumana’s arrest is unlawful, then the bail application should fall away.
“But then if the arrest was lawful, then she must come back and apply for bail. In my view, if the legal representatives can demonstrate that her arrest in Tanzania was unlawful, then they are gonna (going to) succeed. But it is only on the basis that they are succeeding to persuade the High Court that her arrest in Tanzania was unlawful.”
Molete elaborates in the report below:
