Three men accused of robbery in which cash and property worth more than P375,800 were allegedly stolen have been granted bail by Maun Chief Magistrate Reuben Sebetlela.
Donald Sibanda, Lyghton Nembaware and Bonnie Secha were recently granted bail under a number of conditions, including surrendering their travel documents to the police. The first and second accused, who are foreign nationals, were ordered to surrender their travelling documents as part of the bail conditions, with the court considering the possibility that they could be a flight risk.
All three accused were ordered to bind themselves with P2,000 each and also provide two sureties, who must also bind themselves with the same amount each. They were further ordered to provide the police with viable physical addresses and report to a police station once every month.
The bail conditions are intended to ensure that the accused remain available to the authorities while the matter continues through the court process.
The three men are alleged to have acted together with a common purpose and while armed with a machete to rob Lin Ke and two other Chinese nationals. According to the allegations, the victims were tied with cable ties before the accused allegedly took P375,800 in cash and property valued at P460,600.
The alleged stolen property include a Chinese bank card, an iPhone 14 valued at P10,000, an iPhone 14 Pro valued at P12,000, two Huawei Mate 60 phones valued at P14,000, a Huawei Mate 30 Pro valued at P12,000 and a Vivo X200 Pro valued at P10,000. Other items allegedly stolen include a hard drive valued at P2,000 and an iFLYTEK Pad valued at P5,600.
Meanwhile, the fourth accused in the matter, Freddy Lephojane, had previously been granted bail. The prosecution had earlier raised concerns about Lephojane meeting the other accused while in custody, arguing that such contact could jeopardise investigations into the matter.
His alleged involvement in the case was also said to be minimal compared to that of the three accused who had remained in custody.
Following the earlier bail ruling, Lephojane was ordered to bind himself with P1,000 and provide two sureties, who must each also bind themselves with P1,000. The latest bail ruling means all four accused in the matter have now been granted bail, although they remain facing the allegations before the court.
The accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and the matter remains before the Maun Magistrate’s Court.
