Death in witness’s family interrupts treason trial

THE testimony of the prosecution’s second witness in the Caprivi high treason trial has been interrupted for the second time in as many weeks.

State witness Oscar Mwisepi is now scheduled to return to the witness stand in the High Court at Grootfontein on Tuesday next week. He had almost reached the halfway mark of his cross-examination by defence lawyers involved in the trial yesterday when Deputy Prosecutor-General Herman January informed Judge Elton Hoff that Mwisepi had received news that an uncle of his had died, and that he had requested time until Tuesday to deal with this event.Mwisepi is set to continue facing cross-examination from defence lawyer Greyson Nyoni when the trial resumes.Nyoni, the fifth of the nine defence counsel in the trial to test Mwisepi’s testimony, had only been questioning the witness for about half an hour yesterday before the case was remanded until next week.His cross-examination has already given a significant change of rhythm to the trial.With each defence lawyer having his own style of cross-questioning, it quickly became apparent as Nyoni started with his one-on-one interaction with Mwisepi yesterday that his style may be one of rapid, direct questions and challenging statements, rather than the more drawn-out and wearying style of questioning that the court had sometimes witnessed during the cross-examination of Mwisepi so far.Nyoni has already managed to get Mwisepi to agree that he had, as a schoolboy, taken it upon himself to act as a bodyguard for a political leader.That appeared to have been a reference to Mwisepi’s claim that he had, at some time in 1998, volunteered to guard alleged separatist leader Mishake Muyongo, who is an uncle of his, Mwisepi has said.In previous cross-examination – also that of the previous questioner, Jorge Neves – Mwisepi has already expanded on his claim of having been a bodyguard of Muyongo by telling the court that this had in reality been a role that he had only performed one evening, for about four hours long.Nyoni pointedly referred to “our President” and “our Government” as he confirmed with Mwisepi what the latter had admitted was the role that he had played in a movement to overthrow the government in the Caprivi Region and to secede the region from the rest of Namibia.Part of that role was that Mwisepi had gone to Botswana with the plan to prepare there for – as he had put it – a return to Namibia to destroy government institutions, was one of the statements that Nyoni put to Mwisepi.That was excellent, Mwisepi replied.”It’s not excellent to destroy a state, so I don‚t know what you’re talking about,” Nyoni admonished him in response.To him it was excellent, Mwisepi maintained, adding that he thought it excellent to destroy a state to get to the aim that he had in mind at that stage, which was to get self-rule for the people of the Caprivi Region.With those answers, Mwisepi once more highlighted something that defence lawyers had raised repeatedly in their cross-examination of him so far.That is the fact that he in effect admits having been a co-conspirator and accomplice of people who had been involved in separatist activities in the Caprivi Region some five years ago, yet he is being used as a witness for the prosecution, while his alleged former comrades in the secessionist cause are finding themselves being prosecuted on an unprecedented 278 charges.Mwisepi himself could also not explain the reason for that, except to state that he had initially also been regarded as a suspect by the Police, but that he was later told that he would be used as a witness against the other suspects now before court.He had almost reached the halfway mark of his cross-examination by defence lawyers involved in the trial yesterday when Deputy Prosecutor-General Herman January informed Judge Elton Hoff that Mwisepi had received news that an uncle of his had died, and that he had requested time until Tuesday to deal with this event.Mwisepi is set to continue facing cross-examination from defence lawyer Greyson Nyoni when the trial resumes.Nyoni, the fifth of the nine defence counsel in the trial to test Mwisepi’s testimony, had only been questioning the witness for about half an hour yesterday before the case was remanded until next week.His cross-examination has already given a significant change of rhythm to the trial.With each defence lawyer having his own style of cross-questioning, it quickly became apparent as Nyoni started with his one-on-one interaction with Mwisepi yesterday that his style may be one of rapid, direct questions and challenging statements, rather than the more drawn-out and wearying style of questioning that the court had sometimes witnessed during the cross-examination of Mwisepi so far.Nyoni has already managed to get Mwisepi to agree that he had, as a schoolboy, taken it upon himself to act as a bodyguard for a political leader.That appeared to have been a reference to Mwisepi’s claim that he had, at some time in 1998, volunteered to guard alleged separatist leader Mishake Muyongo, who is an uncle of his, Mwisepi has said.In previous cross-examination – also that of the previous questioner, Jorge Neves – Mwisepi has already expanded on his claim of having been a bodyguard of Muyongo by telling the court that this had in reality been a role that he had only performed one evening, for about four hours long.Nyoni pointedly referred to “our President” and “our Government” as he confirmed with Mwisepi what the latter had admitted was the role that he had played in a movement to overthrow the government in the Caprivi Region and to secede the region from the rest of Namibia.Part of that role was that Mwisepi had gone to Botswana with the plan to prepare there for – as he had put it – a return to Namibia to destroy government institutions, was one of the statements that Nyoni put to Mwisepi.That was excellent, Mwisepi replied.”It’s not excellent to destroy a state, so I don‚t know what you’re talking about,” Nyoni admonished him in response.To him it was excellent, Mwisepi maintained, adding that he thought it excellent to destroy a state to get to the aim that he had in mind at that stage, which was to get self-rule for the people of the Caprivi Region.With those answers, Mwisepi once more highlighted something that defence lawyers had raised repeatedly in their cross-examination of him so far.That is the fact that he in effect admits having been a co-conspirator and accomplice of people who had been involved in separatist activities in the Caprivi Region some five years ago, yet he is being used as a witness for the prosecution, while his alleged former comrades in the secessionist cause are finding themselves being prosecuted on an unprecedented 278 charges.Mwisepi himself could also not explain the reason for that, except to state that he had initially also been regarded as a suspect by the Police, but that he was later told that he would be used as a witness against the other suspects now before court.