Arson murder suspect returns to High Court

BRIEF court proceedings yesterday brought murder suspect Efraim Rachimo Haradoëb full circle to the point where he had been before he escaped from Police custody almost five and a half years ago – facing Judge Mavis Gibson in the High Court.

The 34-year-old Haradoëb is accused of having murdered his girlfriend, teacher Regina Kastoor, six and a half years ago. He allegedly poured petrol over her in a room in the Gibeon school hostel, where she was staying, and set her on fire.That is claimed to have happened on November 16 1998.Kastoor survived for another ten days before she died of her injuries.She was 23 years old.Haradoëb and Judge Gibson had last met in the High Court when his trial was postponed on December 28 1999 to give him and his defence lawyer time to try to find a witness that Haradoëb had claimed would back up the alibi defence he had raised in his trial.By the time that the trial, at which Judge Gibson presided since its start in mid-June 1999, was supposed to resume on February 2 2000, Haradoëb and two other trial-awaiting detainees had however escaped from the Windhoek Police Station holding cells only the previous day.Haradoëb was missing for almost five years and five months.Then he was arrested in South Africa, reportedly on a string of charges from alleged former girlfriends who claimed he had stolen various items such as cash, jewellery and cellphones from them.After his arrest, the South African authorities realised that he was still wanted in Namibia on a murder charge.He returned to Namibia last Friday, having been deported from South Africa, and yesterday officers from the Police’s Serious Crime Unit took him back to the High Court as a first step to getting his long-interrupted trial back on track.Proceedings were short, with State advocate Leonie Dunn only asking Judge Gibson to adjourn the case until Tuesday next week and to order that Haradoëb remain in custody in the meantime.The Judge told Haradoëb that the case would have to be postponed so that the trial record could be put together from the court’s archives, and that a date for the continuation of the trial would be fixed when the matter returned to court on Tuesday.When asked what his position with regard to legal representation was, Haradoëb replied that he wanted to apply for State legal aid.According to indications from the High Court yesterday, chances are that the trial may resume only in February next year.Haradoëb remains in Police custody.He also has to appear in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on August 9 on a charge of escaping form lawful custody.He allegedly poured petrol over her in a room in the Gibeon school hostel, where she was staying, and set her on fire.That is claimed to have happened on November 16 1998.Kastoor survived for another ten days before she died of her injuries.She was 23 years old.Haradoëb and Judge Gibson had last met in the High Court when his trial was postponed on December 28 1999 to give him and his defence lawyer time to try to find a witness that Haradoëb had claimed would back up the alibi defence he had raised in his trial.By the time that the trial, at which Judge Gibson presided since its start in mid-June 1999, was supposed to resume on February 2 2000, Haradoëb and two other trial-awaiting detainees had however escaped from the Windhoek Police Station holding cells only the previous day.Haradoëb was missing for almost five years and five months.Then he was arrested in South Africa, reportedly on a string of charges from alleged former girlfriends who claimed he had stolen various items such as cash, jewellery and cellphones from them.After his arrest, the South African authorities realised that he was still wanted in Namibia on a murder charge.He returned to Namibia last Friday, having been deported from South Africa, and yesterday officers from the Police’s Serious Crime Unit took him back to the High Court as a first step to getting his long-interrupted trial back on track.Proceedings were short, with State advocate Leonie Dunn only asking Judge Gibson to adjourn the case until Tuesday next week and to order that Haradoëb remain in custody in the meantime.The Judge told Haradoëb that the case would have to be postponed so that the trial record could be put together from the court’s archives, and that a date for the continuation of the trial would be fixed when the matter returned to court on Tuesday.When asked what his position with regard to legal representation was, Haradoëb replied that he wanted to apply for State legal aid.According to indications from the High Court yesterday, chances are that the trial may resume only in February next year.Haradoëb remains in Police custody.He also has to appear in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on August 9 on a charge of escaping form lawful custody.