A Botswana court on Tuesday issued a warrant of arrest for the former head of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS), Isaac Kgosi after declaring him a wanted fugitive.
This was after the state, through the Directorate of Public Prosecution, approached the court with an application to have Kgosi arrested after he allegedly violated his bail conditions.
But his lawyers have told the court that he is currently in Malaysia where he is being treated for an undisclosed ailment.
Kgosi is being charged with two offences, relating to an incident in which he allegedly took pictures of security agents and sharing them with the public and he is alleged to have obstructed security agents in the execution of their duties.
At the time he photographed the agents in question, Kgosi claimed that they were on a mission to assassinate him.
Prosecutors told the court that Kgosi did not abide by his bail conditions as he left the country without reporting to the police.
They argued that it was reasonable to declare Kgosi a wanted fugitive and he has to be brought to court to show cause why bail conditions cannot be revoked.
However Kgosi’s lawyer, Thabiso Tafila, argued that “there was absolutely no need for warrant of arrest because there was nothing preventing Isaac Kgosi to travel to Malaysia at the time and there was no need to vary his bail conditions as he thought he will be back soon.”
“It was only when he got there that he was told that he will need to stay long for medical attention, as it stands he will be operated on and the State has that information,” Tafila told the court in Gaborone.
The case was postponed to 24 September for status hearing.
The warrant of arrest remains standing until the state can establish that indeed Kgosi was in Malaysia for medical purposes.
Recently the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime successfully applied to the High Court to have Kgosi’s property to be seized by the State in absentia.
The corruption busting agency alleges that Kgosi got the properties in question through special funds of the DIS while he was at its helm.
He is expected to be charged with corruption upon his arrival from Malaysia.
KO/jn/APA