THE judge presiding over the trial of the 10 soldiers accused of strangling three men and dumping their bodies in the Mohale Dam has taken a swipe at the defence lawyers who have threatened to withdraw from the case, accusing them of manipulating the court system.

Dr Onkemetse Tshosa also accused the lawyers of delaying the case by applying for unexplained postponements on several occasions.

The judge who is from Botswana therefore last week ordered that in spite of the fact the defence’s preparedness appears to be shoddy, the accused should however have their day in court soon.  

Dr Tshosa made the order for the trial to continue based on the Speedy Court Trials Act.

Prior to that, the prosecution had pronounced its readiness to proceed with the matter. For its part the defence had argued that it still had a few loose ends to tie up.

Dr Tshosa said the case was postponed on a number of occasions when it was before another judge, adding that on some instances, the defence lawyers simply to failed to make an appearance without explaining why.

The trial he said took another twist when the same lawyers jointly announced their intention to withdraw from the case if their clients’ demands were not met.

This he further showed was in spite of the fact that other lawyers including King’s Counsel Karabo Mohau and Attorney Qhalehang Letsika still continued to show up in court.

He said the lawyers’ threat to drop the case was but a manipulation of the court system on their part.
He said the lawyers even rejected the court’s offer to afford the accused legal representation and Pro Deo services as per the Constitution of Lesotho.

In their earlier submission, the defence lawyers had suggested that investigations be made to establish why some of the accused were not being represented.