Wyson Bannet Big, arrested in May 2007 for possession of stolen items, will finally learn his fate this week after 17 years without a conclusive trial.
Big was implicated in a robbery syndicate by his co-accused, Myson Viera Chizizira, who was convicted in August 2009. Despite this, Big’s case has been repeatedly adjourned, with the State making submissions between 2010 and 2024.
The High Court has now set September 13th, 2024, as the date for the delivery of judgment, following a request for urgent attention from Big’s lawyer, Alexious Kamangira.
In an interview, Kamangila reflected on the Court’s orchestrated injustice, stating that the prolonged delay is unfair and has rendered it impossible for Big to attain a fair trial.
“Imagine if on Friday he is sentenced to a term beyond the time he has already “served” (been in prison), how would that be said to be Justice? How does Big move from there? How does he appeal against a conviction that was handed down 15 years ago, for instance?”
Kamangila called for self-reflection by the judiciary for what he called failing to uphold the rule of law and lacking accountability, emphasizing that someone with the means to afford a private lawyer would not have faced this treatment.
He added that Bennet Big’s case is one of those cases why the Judicial Commission Services Bill should be made into law for Judicial Officers to have some form of accountability for failure to do the basics.
The human rights lawyer has stated that on 13th September 2024, a day the Court has set, Bannet Big will demand that the Court attends to an application he made two years ago, demanding that he be released immediately for Unlawful detention.
“Alternatively, if the Court insists on sentencing him, we will argue that how Big has been treated is a compelling mitigating factor for the Court to give him a lesser punishment than a sentence equal to 17 years of detention. In the circumstance where the Court sentence him to a term that will require Big to stay in prison even one more year, we will appeal,” added Kamangira.
Kamangira also believes that the State Chambers (Office of the DPP, the prosecuting Officer), the Legal Aid Bureau (Defence) and the Prison Authorities should be held accountable for their failure to execute their public duty in a way that serves a poor Malawian.
He wondered: “How is it possible for someone to be in prison for 17 years without completion of his trial, and you think people didn’t know? They knew but didn’t care. Further, as we speak, hundreds of poor Malawians are in Big’s shoes; it is high time we take people who don’t deserve to be in Prison out of Prison NOW!”
