Twenty murder suspects, some of whom have been awaiting trial for five years, have been released on bail through a camp court that was set up by Legal Aid Bureau at Maula Prison in Lilongwe.
The suspects were granted bail by High Court Judge Mzondi Mvula between 29 and 30 November 2022 after being on remand for several years, some for as long as five years as they awaited trial.
Lilongwe-based Charles Satha who was suspected of murder, however, was discharged from prison as he was sick and needed home-based care that the facility could not provide.
Satha developed Immunosuppression and adult malnutrition while at Maula Prison and was using a wheelchair. At the prison, there was no one to look after him and he needed enough nutritional food supplements which were lacking at the facility.
Satha was arrested in 2018 and was granted bail in 2021. He, however, could not be released from detention because he failed to meet his bail conditions, which among others demanded that he pays MK80,000 cash bond to the Government of Malawi.
At the time he was granted bail, the court ordered that his trial should commence within three months but the trial never kicked off more than a year down the line.
While other suspects have been granted bail, the Judge saw it fit to set Charles Satha free.
According to the bureau, it has, however, received Satha died a few days after his release.
Through camp courts, matters are heard within the prison facilities and when bail applications are successful, prison facilities are decongested as suspects are released.
The bureau set up the court in partnership with Paralegal Advisory Service Institute (PASI) and The Irish Rule of Law (IRLI).
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