Accused High Court Judge Onkemetse Tshosa has told Regional Magistrate Barnabas Nyamazabo that the prosecution has turned his case into a political trial.
Tshosa is accused of refusing to provide breath sample and assaulting a Police officer.
He has already been acquitted of driving under the influence of alcohol.
The charges stem from an incident in which Tshosa’s vehicle collided with another along the Gaborone-Molepolole road in May 2009.
Tshosa told the court while giving evidence in chief and during cross examination that some top government bureaucrats and some politicians were conspiring against him. He maintains he is an innocent man.
Tshosa has accused the Police of fabricating criminal charges against him. He told the court that he never assaulted any police officer but rather the police are the ones who assaulted him and locked him in a police cell without even warning and cautioning him.
“All the police who testified in this court lied; they never tell the truth, they fabricated the charges against me,” he stated.
Tshosa said while at the Police Station, a certain sergeant explained to him that he was not compelled to provide a breath specimen.
Tshosa told the court that thereafter he was allowed to call his wife.
He said while still making the phone call he was attacked by two Police Officers who threw him into a Police Cell.
He added that the police lied to the court that he had pushed them, adding that the only time there was a jostle was when he was trying to free himself from their attack.
“When I tried to free myself, they started kicking me with some shouting at me….”
“The police never even told me that I was under arrest and they detained me for the whole night until the following day around 12 pm,” he said. “They have never given me an opportunity to test for breath specimen except kicking at me and locking me inside a police cell.”
Tshosa said that the allegation of assaulting a police officer was a trumped up charge which he only came to know about when he was slapped with a charge sheet.
Tshosa accused the Director of Public Prosecutions, Leonard Sechele, of harbouring interest on the matter.
He said while the complainant had shown he is amenable to dropping the charges against him, Sechele had issued instructions that the charges should not be dropped.
Tshosa said even the State prosecutor, Wesson Machwe, had shown no problem with the charges being dropped after the complainant proposed to drop them.
“I wonder why a minor case could be treated this way, and still fail to understand why charges against me could not be withdrawn, when there are so many cases that have been before court and have been withdrawn by two or more parties involved…. I am shocked by this development,” said Tshosa.
