State has urged Court not to grant jailed Charity Katanga bail pending appeal

THE State has urged the Magistrate’s Court not to grant jailed former Deputy Inspector General of Police Charity Katanga bail pending appeal.

It has argued that Ms Katanga’s application for bail should be dismissed because she has failed to show extraordinary circumstances which can permit the court to grant the request.

The State contents that she has not demonstrated any exceptional circumstances to warrant the court to grant her bail pending appeal.

This is in the State’s arguments opposing Ms Katanga’s application for bail pending appeal.

Ms Katanga has appealed against the three-year jail term imposed on her for possession of 10 buses deemed to be proceeds of crime.

She has also applied for bail pending hearing of her appeal against her conviction and sentence in the High Court.

On Monday last week, Lusaka chief resident magistrate Davies Chibwili jailed Ms Katanga after finding her guilty of possession of 10 Higer buses worth K26 million.

This was after the court found that between January 1, 2017 and June 6, 2022, the convict, jointly and while acting with others, bought 10 Higer buses, operating under Chibeka Express, for being proceeds of crime.

Ms Katanga failed to prove that the money used to buy the buses was from her legitimate sources of income.

Magistrate Chibwili found that the 45-year-old former senior police officer’s known income between 2017 and 2021 was over K1.7 million against over K18 million which was paid towards the purchase of the buses.

But in her appeal, Ms Katanga argues that the magistrate erred in law and fact when he found that there was reasonable suspicion that the 10 buses were proceeds of crime against the weight of the evidence.

She has since applied for bail pending hearing of her appeal, considering that she never breached bail conditions during trial.

But in response to her bail application, the State urged the court not to grant Ms Katanga bail because her conviction of sentence are firm as the convict has not shown exceptional circumstances for the court to grant her request.

It has argued that in order for bail pending appeal to be granted, there ought to be exceptional circumstances which the court must consider in exercising its discretion.

The State added that a perusal of the convict’s grounds of appeal shows that the appeal’s prospects of success are dim.

(Mwebantu)