Cocaine trial evidence thrown out of court

EVIDENCE about self-incriminating statements that were allegedly made by a Windhoek resident who is accused of dealing in or possessing cocaine valued at close to N$2 million in August 2008 was ruled to be inadmissible in his trial in the Windhoek Regional Court yesterday.

With the ruling on the admissibility of statements that Pieter Fox (53) made to a Police officer when he was interrogated on August 11 2008, the prosecution has for the second time been dealt a setback in the trial in which Fox and four co-accused are charged with two counts of dealing in or possessing cocaine.Fox and fellow Windhoek residents Wessel de Jager, Joachim Grothkopf, Henry Grothkopf and Andries Albrightson are accused of having dealt in or possessed a total of 3,95 kilograms of cocaine, valued at about N$1,95 million, in Windhoek on August 10 2008.They pleaded not guilty to both charges at the start of their trial before Magistrate Sarel Jacobs at the end of June last year.The court has so far heard that two parcels of alleged cocaine were found in De Jager’s possession when a vehicle in which he and Albrightson were travelling was stopped and searched at a Police roadblock on the road between Windhoek and Okahandja on the evening of August 10 2008.More cocaine was allegedly later found in the possession of Joachim Grothkopf.Statements made by De Jager and Henry Grothkopf when they were questioned by the Police on the evening of the incident were already ruled inadmissible on July 1 last year, when Magistrate Jacobs found that the two suspects’ rights to remain silent and to be represented by a lawyer were not properly explained to them before they were interrogated.With the continuation of the trial in December Fox and his defence lawyer, Hennie Krüger, raised a similar objection against evidence about statements that were made by him when he was questioned.In his ruling yesterday, Magistrate Jacobs found that Fox was aware of his right to legal representation when the then head of the Namibian Police’s drug offences unit, Detective Chief Inspector Barry de Klerk, questioned Fox at Fox’s office at Hosea Kutako International Airport on August 11 2008.The Magistrate found that Fox phoned his lawyer when De Klerk informed him that he wanted to question him, and that Fox then told De Klerk that on his lawyer’s advice he chose to remain silent at that stage.De Klerk however pressed on and still posed questions to Fox, which Fox then answered, allegedly incriminating himself in the process.This was a violation of Fox’s right to remain silent, the magistrate ruled. Once Fox had told De Klerk that he wanted to remain silent, the questioning should have been stopped then and there, Magistrate Jacobs said.Another ruling on the admissibility of evidence – this time about statements that Joachim Grothkopf made to the Police – is set to be given when the trial returns to court on February 11.The five charged men are remaining free on bail.Public Prosecutor Ingrid Husselmann is representing the State.