..fitness to plead March 2026
Zuneth Sattar’s Bribery Trial Set for September 2027
Malawian-born British businessman Zuneth Sattar’s bribery trial has been scheduled for 6 September 2027, a date that is likely to pose a long-term headache for his alleged beneficiaries in Malawi, who must now wait to see whether they will be named in a UK Crown Court.
In a brief session held on Thursday, 26 June, at Southwark Crown Court in London, lawyers representing the UK government and Sattar agreed on a timeline for the trial, which is expected to run uninterrupted for three weeks.
The Investigator Magazine delayed publishing this story due to reporting restrictions that apply to legal proceedings in the UK. However, the magazine is now permitted to reveal the trial date and some court developments.
Sattar, who faces eighteen counts of bribing foreign officials, is scheduled to return to court on 24 March 2026 for a hearing to determine his fitness to plead, as he has yet to enter a plea. He reportedly sustained a brain injury after falling down stairs in January 2023.
This means there will be at least a few court appearances in 2026—months after Malawi’s general elections—potentially creating a post-election challenge for the incoming administration, which will assume office in September 2025.
The full trial is set to begin on 7 September 2027.
“Resources in the justice system are incredibly stretched at the moment. The fact that a High Court judge must preside over the trial—given that they are in short supply—is the main reason for the delay,” explained a legal expert who requested anonymity.
Another legal source suggested that prosecutors may offer Sattar a plea deal to resolve the matter quickly and avoid embarrassment for senior Malawian public officials.
The Investigator Magazine is seeking legal opinion on the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) report submitted to President Lazarus Chakwera in 2023. The report allegedly contains the names of individuals who benefited from Sattar’s generosity, along with audio recordings and bank statements implicating several high-ranking politicians who reportedly received payments from him.
