Controversial Nigerian pastor has been denied bail by the Port Elizabeth High Court.

The Nigerian pastor was denied bail and this time it’s for the third time Timothy Omotoso has been denied bail. He was initially denied bail twice after he was found to be a flight risk.

On Wednesday the court found that Omotoso was declared a prohibited person by home affairs and he is likely to be deported which made his flight risk status to worsen.

The televangelist has been detained since 2017 after being arrested at the Port Elizabeth international airport. The pastor and his co-accused, Zukiswa Sitho and Lusanda Sulani who are out on bail have over 90 charges against them.

When he delivered his judgement, Judge Phillip Zilwa stated that it was important for the court to compare new facts with those facts that were presented in the previous bail applications in the magistrates court and transcripts of past applications so that a judgement can be decided.

He stated that the court took documents and oral evidence testimony from the 6 witnesses into consideration.

“His defence team claimed that he is at risk of contracting Coronavirus in prison, but the argument had no weight because not only prisoners are at risk, but the general public as a whole is. The fact that he is Coronavirus free now shows that he is not at risk in prison.

The fact that the applicant was declared a prohibited person by home affairs immediately made him a flight risk, that alone affected his application. The applicant ‘s wife and son will probably be deported and he will be left with no family ties in South Africa” the judge said.

The leader of the African National Congress ‘s Women s league, Bathabile Dlamini who attended the court hearing said they are happy with the judgement of the court and that now there is hope that justice will be served.

“We can now be confident that the justice system will fight against gender based violence. We always complain that the justice system fails us but what I’ve seen today is a step in the right direction.

The main trial was postponed to Tuesday and the matter was moved to next Monday for the application of bail.

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Some one is going to call the judge xenophobic

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