The office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) has appealed against the Lilongwe Principal Resident Magistrate’s Court ruling to acquit Norman Chisale, personal bodyguard to former president Peter Mutharika, in a case where he was accused of intimidating public officers and obstructing the execution of legal processes.
He was arrested after Minister of Justice Titus Mvalo, Ministry of Homeland Security Principal Secretary Steve Kayuni and Anti-Corruption Bureau acting Director General Hilary Chilomba complained that he was threatening them.
But in his ruling, principal resident magistrate Roderick Michongwe said there was no evidence to warrant the charges against the suspect.
However, the DPP has appealed against the ruling based on two reasons, saying the court erred in acquitting Chisale.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice Frank Namangale has confirmed that the ministry has submitted a letter of appeal to the High Court to set a hearing date for the arguments contained in the appeal.
Read part of the statement; “Take notice that the Director of the Public Prosecutions, being dissatisfied with the judgment of the Principal Resident Magistrate’s sitting at Lilongwe given on 24th day of July 2024, in which the court acquitted the Respondent herein, do hereby give notice of appeal against the whole decision.
“Take further notice that the grounds of appeal are; The lower court erred in law in misapplying the definition of the offence of use of insulting language in count 1 of the charge and the lower court erred in law in misapplying the definition of the offence of intimidation in counts 2, 4 and 5 of the charge,” reads the letter.
All the six charges were dropped. He was arrested soon after granting an exclusive interview with Zodiak Television in which he accused Msukwa and others of arresting him for political reasons.
