Fake bomb scare case postponed

THE start of the trial of the senior Police officer being accused of having caused a bomb scare at Namibia’s biggest airport in late 2010 was again postponed in the Windhoek Regional Court yesterday.

The trial of Chief Inspector Nehemia Shafudah (52) had been scheduled to start yesterday, but did not get off the ground because of uncertainty about whether acting Regional Court Magistrate Cosmos Endjala would be available to complete the trial.The magistrate’s appointment as a presiding officer in the Windhoek Regional Court ends in May, Shafudah was told.Because of that, Shafudah’s trial has been rescheduled, and is now due to start on October 11.Shafudah is charged with four counts. These are contravening the Civil Aviation Offences Act of 1972 by attempting to enter or being in a restricted area at an airport with a harmful article, contravening the same Act by communicating false information, making a false statement under oath, and attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice.Shafudah was the head of the Namibian Police’s aviation security unit at Hosea Kutako International Airport when a suspected bomb – which later turned out to be fake – was discovered at the airport on November 17 2010.That discovery prompted a security alert at the airport, led to the delay of an Air Berlin flight from the airport to Germany, and resulted in German police officers being sent to Namibia to take part in a joint investigation with the Namibian Police.Shafudah was arrested and charged on November 19 2010.He was kept in Police custody for three weeks before he was released on bail of N$10 000.Shafudah remains free on bail pending the start of his trial.He is being represented by defence lawyer Jan Wessels. Public Prosecutor Tania Tait represented the State with Shafudah’s court appearance yesterday.