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Brenda Zinyuke, Court Reporter
A WOMAN from Bulawayo and her boyfriend have been granted $500 bail each for unlawful possession of 2kg of crystal methamphetamine, a dangerous drug in the same class as cocaine worth nearly $120 000 smuggled into the country from India.
Judith Phiri (24) of Killarney suburb and Keith Mpofu (24) of Pumula North yesterday appeared before Bulawayo magistrate, Mr Tinashe Tashaya, facing charges of violating section 157 (1) (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (possession of crystal methamphetamine).
Phiri and Mpofu applied for bail last week through their lawyers Messrs Lament Ngwenya and Siphosethu Nkomo of Mathonsi Ncube Law Chambers.
The duo had been remanded in custody to yesterday for bail ruling.
In granting bail, Mr Tashaya said the two accused persons were entitled to bail as it is their constitutional right unless the State has compelling reasons justifying further detention of suspects.
“In terms of section 50 (1) d of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, bail is now a right. Every accused person is entitled to be released unconditionally,” said the magistrate.
“It has been said by the superior courts that the seriousness of an offence on its own is not a proper ground to justify denying accused persons bail. There should be other factors to be considered in conjunction with the seriousness of the offence.
It is common that bail has been granted in the most serious cases such as murder and treason where a death sentence is necessary. As long as there are no pointers that the accused persons will abscond or not stand trial, bail should be granted”.
Mr Tashaya said the presumption of innocence works in the accused persons’ favour.
“In light of the above, the fears of the State can be dealt with by imposing stringent reporting conditions on the accused persons. Bail is hereby granted to the accused persons on condition that each accused person pays a deposit of $500 as bail recognisance, reports to CID Drugs section on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays between 6AM and 6PM.Each accused person is ordered not to interfere with state witnesses and they are to surrender their passports to the Clerk of Court,” he said.
Prosecuting, Mr Mufaro Mageza said on August 20, detectives from CID Drugs and Narcotics in Bulawayo received information from Zimra officials that there was a suspicious parcel at Courier Connect which had arrived from India. The parcel was addressed to Phiri.
“Armed with the information, detectives carried out a surveillance so that they could identify the owner of the parcel. They then observed Phiri collecting the parcel and she was in the company of Mpofu,” said Mr Mageza.
He said detectives approached the two accused persons soon after they had collected the parcel and introduced themselves before requesting to search the parcel.
“On searching the parcel, detectives recovered 1 980kg of crystal methamphetamine hidden in a consignment of weaves. The drugs were placed in between two boxes containing the weaves,” said Mr Mageza.
The “couple” and its parcel were taken to the CID Drugs and Narcotics section where a drug preliminary test was conducted on the powder and it tested positive for crystal methamphetamine leading to Phiri and Mpofu’s arrest.
The drugs, valued at $118 800, were subsequently seized by the police. — @zinyuke98.
Online Reporter