By Chisomo Phiri
Mzuzu High Court has on Tuesday adjourned to a late date hearing of the manslaughter and trafficking in person case involving President Peter wa Mutharika’s stepson, Tadikira Mafubza.
In court, one of the defence lawyers, Gilbert Khonyongwa, said the adjournment is due to delays by the defence and state to submit their charge sheets to the court where a ruling on the plea would have been based.
“The adjournment is because both parties were supposed to submit their issues of objections to the charge sheets and the court was supposed to give its ruling as per scheduled time but the defence delayed in submitting which made the State also delay in responding, ” said Khonyongwa.
He said this means that the court needed more time to prepare its ruling.
Khonyongwa added that they could not proceed without the ruling since it is the ruling that bears whether the accused has to take a plea or not.”
He however, said the court will electronically share the ruling on the submitted charge sheets to both parties later today and that a new date will be communicated.
During the day, Judge Gladys Gondwe was supposed to hear the fresh plea to be entered for all suspects on all charges following an application by the State for the amendment of the charge sheet to reflect the gravity and how the crimes were committed.
Tadikira and five others who are currently on bail are answering this case following the discovery of a mass grave in which about thirty bodies of unidentified Ethiopian nationals were buried at Mtangatanga forest in Mzimba district.
