MASERU
The Appeal Court has supported appeal by Advocate Rethabile Setlojoane, this is after the police threatened to link him to a fraud case of his client for refusing to reveal information about his client. The ConCourt is ordered to hear Setlojoane and police reprimanded.
This is after the noticeable lawyer, Setlojoane fired his last shot towards saving himself from the fraud and money laundering charges he has been struck with for receiving a M100, 000.00 payment from his alleged troublemaker client, Lehlohonolo Selate.
Setlojoane’s lawyer Advocate Salemane Phafane KC, in the Court of Appeal argued that the Constitutional Court was wrong to have layed off Setlojoane’s application challenging the police’s decision to charge him together with Selate.
Setlojoane ended up in trouble with the police in October 2021 after he was paid M100, 000.00 by Selate, allegedly for legal services. The money was supposedly paid through the latter’s company, Sunny Penny, which he had allegedly used to fiddle over M50 million from the government.
Phafane KC claimed that his client was given an ultimatum by the police during the October 2021 interrogation to either submit Selate’s file or pay back the M100, 000.00 which was paid into his FNB account, or be joined as co- accused. Setlojoane is said to have declined the offer.
Phafane argued that the ultimatum for the client’s file is unlawful and they wanted the court to make a declaration on that. “The court a quo also declined power to deal with whether it was right for police to want my client to return the money saying that will be dealt with at the criminal trial”, said Phafane.
He said, “The court should have exercised its power to declare that the police conduct was wrong. That really should be an investigation and the decision that the appellant must go and face a criminal trial should be put aside”.
Phafane said Setlojoane could only be linked to the M50 million fraud trial if there was other evidence linking him to the corruption, and not based on his refusal to discover his client’s file and returning the M100, 000.00.
Commissioner of Police, Mahlape Morai, Minister of Law and Justice, Richard Ramoeletsi, Attorney General, Rapelang Motsieloa are cited as first to third respondents in the appeal.
