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Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary.
- The Bushiri have lost their bid to have Magistrate Patrick Chirwa recused from his extradition hearing in Malawi.
- The couple is wanted in South Africa in connection with a fraud and money laundering case.
- Your attorney now wants the court to treat the case as a civil proceeding and not a criminal one.
The Lilongwe, Malawi magistrates court rejected an offer by self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary Bushiri, to challenge the president at the couple’s extradition hearing.
Magistrate Patrick Chirwa said there were insufficient grounds for a challenge.
This was after the defense filed a request on behalf of the Bushiris for the disqualification of Chirwa on Monday afternoon, arguing that the case was transferred from the previous magistrate, Viva Nyimba, to Chirwa, without alerting them.
News24 previously reported that Bushiri’s attorney, Wapona Kita, was ready to proceed with the hearing last Monday, but later learned that the magistrate who signed the second arrest warrant for the Bushiri would preside over the case.
Kita argued that there would be a “bias on the part of the magistrate”, whose decision they were challenging.
That arrest warrant is being challenged separately in the Malawi High Court.
When the magistrate ruled against the request for disqualification, the extradition hearing was supposed to begin, but was met with another delay.
“It is a good decision and, as we had argued, that is the law in this country and we are grateful that the decision has been made and that the matter proceeds,” Attorney General Steve Kayuni told the media after of the procedure.
Bushiri’s lawyer, among other things, questioned the court’s view that the extradition proceedings were a civil matter and not a criminal one.
The State objected and argued that the case was a criminal proceeding, arguing that “we believe that the way in which the extradition proceedings are based, they came from criminal proceedings.”
READ | Delay in Bushiri’s Extradition Hearing After Lawyer Requests Magistrate’s Disqualification
The Bushiris are wanted in South Africa in connection with a case of fraud and money laundering, allegedly for a sum of R102 million. However, they fled the country to their homeland just days after the Pretoria Central Magistrates Court granted them a bond of R200. 000 each under strict conditions.
The extradition hearing was supposed to start and end on March 8, but has suffered delays since that date.
The case is due to return to court next Monday.
