- – cites deteriorating health while in custody
Threat to kill and assault accused Shandulani Masole’s latest attempt to secure bail has been unsuccessful after the Maun Magistrate’s Court ruled that he remains ineligible for release due to his previous breach of bail conditions.
Masole is facing three charges including one count of threat to kill and two others of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. His bail was previously revoked after the State alleged that while out in the pending threat-to-kill case, he stabbed the complainant, an allegation he denies.
Appearing before Magistrate Gofaone Mosweu this week, 47year old Masole further made a fresh application for bail, citing his deteriorating health while in custody.
Masole told the court that he was struggling to cope in prison because he was unable to purchase medication for his illness. He argued that if released on bail, he would seek treatment at a private hospital or buy medication from a pharmacy using his own money.
“I am not coping in prison because of my illness. If I am granted bail, I will be able to seek medical treatment and buy my own medication,” he submitted.
He also complained that prison authorities had failed to comply with a court order directing that he be escorted to the Maun Police Station to meet the Station Commander.
Masole had earlier been granted permission to visit the police station to pursue what he describes as an unresolved complaint of mistreatment by a certain police officer. However, he alleged that prison officials refused to facilitate the visit despite the court’s directive, a situation he said was unfair.
In her ruling, Magistrate Mosweu dismissed the application, stating that Masole was not eligible for bail because he had previously violated the conditions of his release.
The magistrate noted that the court had already considered the issue of bail and that Masole’s earlier breach of bail conditions weighed against granting him another opportunity to be released pending trial.
Masole remains in custody as his criminal case continues before the Maun Magistrate’s Court.
Earlier this month, Masole successfully sought the court’s intervention to be escorted to the Maun Police Station so that he could pursue an unresolved complaint of alleged mistreatment by a police officer. During his latest court appearance, however, he told the court that prison authorities had failed to carry out that order.
