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09:05Last update on: 13 Aug 2013
The Namibian
Tue 13 Aug 2013
SMS Of The Day * THIS nation is in dire need of a massive conference on housing. When we experienced a crisis in the education sector a crisis-control brain-storming conference was organised which resulted in the best deal ever for the Namibian child, nam Food For Thought * BOURGEOISIE has become a daily occupation if not the order of the day of the upper-echelons, President Hifikepunye Pohamba we urge you to revisit this unpatriotic geocentricism among your staff and the well-connected, for everybody to r Bouquets And Brickbats * COMMISSIONER of Prisons, can you please explain the strategies you use to appoint officers to certain positions? It is my observation that you are being fed with wrong information then you just promote individuals without making p SMS Of The Day * I THINK Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda lost his belt because of this promoter and trainer. How can a world champion still be training at the Katutura Youth Complex where there is not enough equipment. I think they must follow the example of Ha Food For Thought * NAMIBIA Dairies are unable to match low prices of imported milk and this ultimately means the consumer will have to pay more for local milk. Look at the prices of the local chicken. All these profits are going in the pockets of a few in Bouquets And Brickbats * I AM pleased to hear that Cabinet has responded positively to the proposal of Namibia Dairies to support the industry. The restrictions which support the industry by reducing competition to ensure the survival of the industry is a SMS Of The Day * CEO’s golden handshakes. Somewhere on our statute books there must be a provision that if a board of directors suspends/dismisses a CEO without due regard to legal provision (substantive/procedural law) such board must carry the costs for Food For Thought * JACKY Asheeke was so right with her last column- why are the fathers of the dead children not being prosecuted? (Reference to the children who died in shack fires last week) Our justice system still protects men over women. In this cont Bouquets And Brickbats * ALEXACTUS Kaure, your column in Friday’s newspaper opened my eyes. One hardly finds impartial case study analysers in Namibia. Let’s not destroy the Polytechnic’s strong foundation (Tjivikua) as yet. At least wait until the transf SMS Of The Day * WHY doesn’t NBC listen when they are criticised? The little red chairs on Good Morning Namibia have done their part and are dirty especially at the arm rests. Please listen for once. You interview professionals and internationals on those Food For Thought * MINISTRY of Education, in order to address the shortages of teachers at primary schools why don’t you consider employing us who hold a diploma in lifelong learning and community education for teaching posts? We also did health education Bouquets And Brickbats * MY fellow Namibians, I am not a Swapo member but a third term for President Hifikepuye Pohamba will be a step closer towards attainment of Vision 2030. Believe me His Excellency has made crucial bold decisions, and I don’t regret
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NEWS - NAMIBIA
| 2013-07-22
Time pressure on treason trial lawyer
Werner Menges
Defence lawyer Ilse Agenbach, representing a group of 15 accused who decided to rejoin proceedings in the trial earlier this year, drew murmurs of dissent and disapproval from other accused in the dock when she mentioned to Judge Elton Hoff last week that she might need time until early next year to properly prepare for the remainder of the trial.
With nine other defence lawyers and the prosecution united in their opposition to a postponement of the trial for as long as six months, Judge Hoff has now postponed the case to 16 September.
That would give Agenbach another two months to get acquainted with the massive record of past proceedings in the trial - the trial transcript exceeds 39 000 typed pages at this stage - and to decide on the strategy to be followed in her representation of her clients. She has however cautioned that, given the scale of the task she is saddled with, she might not be ready to proceed with the trial in the High Court at Windhoek Central Prison by 16 September.
Agenbach was put on the spot last week when several other defence counsel unexpectedly closed their clients’ defence cases without presenting testimony in their own defence from the accused themselves to the court.
Out of the 50 accused represented by the other nine defence lawyers, 19 have elected to exercise their right to remain silent on the charges against them. Thirty-one of the accused have testified in their own defence since the start of the defence phase of the trial on 25 February.
Some of the accused who have elected not to testify are claimed to have played leading roles in an alleged conspiracy to take up weapons to secede the Caprivi Region from Namibia. The alleged Caprivi Liberation Army commander, John Samboma, Bennet Mutuso, who is alleged to have played a key role in the planning of the surprise attacks which alleged separatists carried out at Katima Mulilo on 2 August 1999, and former teacher Aggrey Makendano, who has acted as a spokesperson for the group that boycotted the trial, are among the accused who have decided to remain silent.
Agenbach joined the trial in mid-March, after her clients decided to end a long boycott of the trial which had started six years earlier in the case of some of the accused, and as far back as early 2005 in the case of others.
Since Agenbach joined the trial she has not been cross-examining the accused who have testified in their own defence. Instead, she has repeatedly informed the court that she was reserving her clients’ rights with regard to cross-examination.
She has also informed Judge Hoff that she was reserving her clients’ rights to ask the court to recall prosecution witnesses who testified while her clients were not represented by a defence lawyer, in order to cross-examine those witnesses who have given evidence against her clients.
The first phase of the trial started in the High Court at Grootfontein in late October 2003. The 65 accused persons remaining on trial after 43 of their co-accused were discharged by Judge Hoff in February this year, following the end of the prosecution’s case, are facing a total of 278 charges, which include counts of high treason, sedition, murder and attempted murder.
With nine other defence lawyers and the prosecution united in their opposition to a postponement of the trial for as long as six months, Judge Hoff has now postponed the case to 16 September.
That would give Agenbach another two months to get acquainted with the massive record of past proceedings in the trial - the trial transcript exceeds 39 000 typed pages at this stage - and to decide on the strategy to be followed in her representation of her clients. She has however cautioned that, given the scale of the task she is saddled with, she might not be ready to proceed with the trial in the High Court at Windhoek Central Prison by 16 September.
Agenbach was put on the spot last week when several other defence counsel unexpectedly closed their clients’ defence cases without presenting testimony in their own defence from the accused themselves to the court.
Out of the 50 accused represented by the other nine defence lawyers, 19 have elected to exercise their right to remain silent on the charges against them. Thirty-one of the accused have testified in their own defence since the start of the defence phase of the trial on 25 February.
Some of the accused who have elected not to testify are claimed to have played leading roles in an alleged conspiracy to take up weapons to secede the Caprivi Region from Namibia. The alleged Caprivi Liberation Army commander, John Samboma, Bennet Mutuso, who is alleged to have played a key role in the planning of the surprise attacks which alleged separatists carried out at Katima Mulilo on 2 August 1999, and former teacher Aggrey Makendano, who has acted as a spokesperson for the group that boycotted the trial, are among the accused who have decided to remain silent.
Agenbach joined the trial in mid-March, after her clients decided to end a long boycott of the trial which had started six years earlier in the case of some of the accused, and as far back as early 2005 in the case of others.
Since Agenbach joined the trial she has not been cross-examining the accused who have testified in their own defence. Instead, she has repeatedly informed the court that she was reserving her clients’ rights with regard to cross-examination.
She has also informed Judge Hoff that she was reserving her clients’ rights to ask the court to recall prosecution witnesses who testified while her clients were not represented by a defence lawyer, in order to cross-examine those witnesses who have given evidence against her clients.
The first phase of the trial started in the High Court at Grootfontein in late October 2003. The 65 accused persons remaining on trial after 43 of their co-accused were discharged by Judge Hoff in February this year, following the end of the prosecution’s case, are facing a total of 278 charges, which include counts of high treason, sedition, murder and attempted murder.
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(August 13)
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