Self-styled prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife have been summoned for a March court hearing on Pretoria’s request to have the couple extradited to South Africa, APA learnt on Thursday.
Two of South Africa’s wanted fugitives, the Bushiris, who run the highly popular Pretoria-based Enlightened Christian Gathering Church, appeared at the Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court to set 8 March as the date for the much-anticipated hearing.
During the hearing, the couple also fought off a warrant of arrest from Malawi’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Steven Kayuni, who wanted to arrest them to await their extradition case while on remand.
This, however, was successfully defended by the couple’s lawyer, Wapona Kita, who reminded the court that it had released them on orders that they be summoned to court if needed for the extradition hearing – an order the Bushiris agreed to honour last year during their bail hearing following an Interpol warrant arrest.
The magistrate agreed with Kita and granted the couple freedom to remain home until the day of the extradition hearing.
The Bushiris are facing theft, fraud, forgery, and money laundering charges, and a case for failing to comply with bail conditions by fleeing to Malawi, their home country, claiming that their lives were in danger in South Africa.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Kayuni told the court that South Africa’s extradition warrant had added three rape charges against Shepherd Bushiri following complaints from some South African women.
South Africa served Malawi with the extradition request last month after the Bushiris’ skipped their bail conditions to remain in this country – but instead fled to Malawi — a development which left both governments denying that their senior officials had assisted the glamourous multi-millionaires to escape the country.
NM/jn/APA