adminHarare Bureau
A SOUTH African businessman, Fredrick Wilhelm August Lutzkie, who crashed his helicopter in Gwanda and buried the wreckage after entering Zimbabwe illegally, had his bail conditions temporarily relaxed.
Harare magistrate Milton Serima temporarily released Lutzkie’s passport which he is to return to the Clerk of Court on or before February 20.
According to his lawyer Advocate Thabani Mpofu, Lutzkie needs to visit his South Africa based doctor to receive medication.
Lutzkie, 52, was granted $2,000 bail pending his appeal against a three-and-a-half-year sentence in June last year.
He was also ordered to deposit $25,000 with the Clerk of Court as surety after Harare magistrate Vakayi Chikwekwe ruled that he was not a flight risk.
As part of his bail conditions, Lutzkie was ordered to surrender his passport, reside at No 9 Chaplin Road, Bulawayo, and to report every Monday at CID Bulawayo Central.
Lutzkie pleaded guilty to 14 counts of contravening the Civil Aviation and Immigration Acts and was sentenced to seven years behind bars.
Chikwekwe suspended half the sentence on condition he does not commit similar offences.
Prosecutor Michael Reza said from February 1 to 28 last year, Lutzkie flew his helicopter from South Africa to Doddieburn Range in Gwanda, where he runs a game farm.
He was flying without Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe permission.
On May 5, Lutzkie flew from a lodge in Gwanda to South Africa but crashed soon after take-off.
Lutzkie dug a pit with an excavator and buried the wreckage.
Online Reporter