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'Cocaine mule' acquittal application dismissed
18 Jul 2017 at 11:40hrs | Views
A Harare magistrate has dismissed an application for discharge by a South African woman arrested for allegedly ingesting cocaine packs.
Isaura Masinga had applied for acquittal arguing cops sifted through her stool on various occasions and failed to find anything justifying continuous prosecution.
Harare magistrate Josephine Sande ruled that Masinga ought to explain why she had lied that she was pregnant when she initially appeared in court.
She conceded with the State that Masinga must explain why she refused to take solid food when she was in police custody. Masinga only started taking solid food when she was transferred to remand prison.
Prosecutor Peter Kachirika had argued that Isaura defeated the course of justice by avoiding solid food while in police custody. Masinga's lawyer Nickiel Mushangwe said his client could not eat the food offered at remand prison because it was unfit for human consumption.
He urged the court to put Masinga to her defence to explain how she had disposed of body packs which had been detected in her body earlier on.
She went through a series scans as the State sought to establish if she carried cocaine in her stomach but the results were inconclusive
Masinga entered Zimbabwe on May 5 and was confined to police custody and charged with possession of cocaine.
The State failed to establish if Masinga possessed the cocaine and changed the charges to defeating the course of justice on allegations that she had destroyed that evidence to evade justice. The defence case opens on July 24.
Isaura Masinga had applied for acquittal arguing cops sifted through her stool on various occasions and failed to find anything justifying continuous prosecution.
Harare magistrate Josephine Sande ruled that Masinga ought to explain why she had lied that she was pregnant when she initially appeared in court.
She conceded with the State that Masinga must explain why she refused to take solid food when she was in police custody. Masinga only started taking solid food when she was transferred to remand prison.
He urged the court to put Masinga to her defence to explain how she had disposed of body packs which had been detected in her body earlier on.
She went through a series scans as the State sought to establish if she carried cocaine in her stomach but the results were inconclusive
Masinga entered Zimbabwe on May 5 and was confined to police custody and charged with possession of cocaine.
The State failed to establish if Masinga possessed the cocaine and changed the charges to defeating the course of justice on allegations that she had destroyed that evidence to evade justice. The defence case opens on July 24.
Source - dailynews
