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Thursday, October 26, 2006 - Web posted at 7:07:12 GMT Namibian faces extradition to Botswana for gem offence WERNER MENGESA NAMIBIAN citizen who has a three-year jail term for illegal possession of rough diamonds waiting for him in Botswana is set to hear tomorrow whether he will be extradited to serve that prison term or not. |
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Despite protestations of innocence, Rudolf Katumbe (30) was convicted in Botswana's Maun Magistrate's Court on a charge of illegal possession of unpolished diamonds on September 19 2000. Katumbe was accused of transporting 16 uncut diamonds, valued at 2 025 Botswana Pula (about N$2 450) into Botswana through the Mohembo border post on May 20 2000. At Katumbe's trial, prosecution witnesses claimed they found the stones in a small, wrapped package in luggage that belonged to Katumbe. He denied having known about the presence of the package, and hinted that three hitchhikers whom he had given a ride across the border from Namibia might have had something to do with the presence of the stones. However, the prosecution witnesses claimed that Katumbe had admitted to them that the stones belonged to him. He was eventually convicted and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. Katumbe was in prison from the time of his arrest on May 20 2000 until a Botswana High Court judge granted him bail pending appeal. His appeal against both his conviction and the seven-year prison term was finalised when another High Court Judge ruled on April 11 2001 that he had been correctly convicted. That Judge, however, changed the sentence from seven to three years. Katumbe had become a fugitive from justice in Botswana by the time the appeal judgement was handed down. Following his release on bail totalling 5 000 pula (about N$6 100), Katumbe left Botswana and returned to the safe refuge that Namibia could offer him. Whether he will continue to enjoy this refuge is now up to Magistrate Uaatjo Uanivi, who on Friday last week reserved his ruling on a request from the Botswana authorities for Katumbe to be extradited to Botswana. According to the extradition request submitted to Namibia's Minister of Justice, Katumbe still has to serve an outstanding period of imprisonment of two years, six months and nine days in Botswana. Katumbe is opposing the extradition. His conviction in Botswana was tainted by irregularities, his lawyer, Sisa Namandje, argued at the end of the one-day extradition hearing before Magistrate Uanivi. To back up this claim, he cited a provision in Botswana law in terms of which someone who is found in possession of rough diamonds is presumed to have known that the stones were in fact diamonds. Under Namibian law, the State is required to prove that a person accused of illegal possession of diamonds had in fact been found with diamonds, Namandje said. He added that the sentence that Katumbe received was "excessive and wholly inappropriate", and argued that if a sentence was "so severe and shocking" a Namibian court could not authorise Katumbe's extradition. Public Prosecutor OJ Lino told the Magistrate that he was not required to look into the value of the diamonds involved in the case and to decide whether Katumbe had received a fair sentence in Botswana. His task was to satisfy himself that the applicable extradition procedures had been complied with, Lino argued. He added that there was no evidence to show that Katumbe's rights would be violated in Botswana if he was extradited. Katumbe had received and exercised all his rights, including the right to appeal and to be released on bail pending appeal, before he absconded from Botswana, Lino remarked. Magistrate Uanivi is set to give his ruling tomorrow. |
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