The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will appeal the judgement in the case against controversial televangelist, Timothy Omotoso and his two co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho.
The trio were acquitted on 32 serious charges including rape, racketeering and human trafficking in the Gqeberha High Court last month.
“This decision follows a thorough consideration of the matter by an NPA internal team of experienced prosecutors, as well as a legal opinion sourced from Senior Counsel. The decision could not be rushed due to the complexity of the matter and the voluminous transcript that needed to be interrogated.
“The NPA takes the view that there are reasonable prospects of a successful appeal despite the complexities of the legal process. A convicted person may appeal a conviction on both facts and the law. However, the state can only appeal an acquittal judgment on a question of law [as opposed to facts], in terms of Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Act [CPA],” the NPA said.
The prosecutorial body explained that the first step – which is already underway by filing papers with the court registrar – is to “request for the judge to clarify factual findings”.
“Once a clarification of the factual findings is received from the Judge, the NPA’s legal team will finalise the papers on the reservation of questions of law and file this application with the Registrar of the High Court.
“Even though Section 319 of the CPA does not prescribe the timeframe for the filing of such papers, we undertake to file the application within a reasonable period to avoid any undue delay,” the NPA said.
Meanwhile, Omotoso was arrested at East London on Saturday and is currently facing charges relating to the contravention of Immigration Act. – SAnews.gov.za
