Fishrot trial judge wants pretrial steps completed

THE judge handling the Fishrot fisheries fraud, corruption and racketeering case has directed the accused in the matter to complete a pretrial procedure aimed at identifying disputed and undisputed matters to be dealt with during their trial.

Acting judge Marilize du Plessis directed the state in the High Court at Windhoek Correctional Facility yesterday to compile a pretrial memorandum containing questions for the accused to answer.

Du Plessis added that the questions should refer to specific accused and specific charges on which the state should enquire what allegations the accused will be disputing or not disputing.

The accused should provide answers to the state’s pretrial memorandum by 18 November, Du Plessis directed.

During previous pretrial appearances by the accused, the court was informed that the accused did not respond to a pretrial memorandum of the state that was aimed at establishing what issues would be in dispute or would be agreed on during their trial.

After Du Plessis issued the directive yesterday, former attorney general and justice minister Sacky Shanghala remarked that this was the first time a judge acknowledged that pretrial proceedings in the matter have not been completed.

Shanghala added that if the accused replied to the state’s pretrial memorandum in 2021, when the state first disclosed the contents of the docket to the accused, they would have done so without having received full disclosure.

Shanghala has been complaining that the state has not disclosed to the accused all the evidence it collected during the investigation of the case. In another development during the court appearance of the 10 men charged in the Fishrot case yesterday, defence lawyer Milton Engelbrecht informed the judge he will no longer be representing two of the three accused who had been his clients in the matter.

“I have been relieved of my duties as far as accused seven and eight are concerned,” Engelbrecht said, referring to Mike Nghipunya, former chief executive of the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor), and Otneel Shuudifonya.

Nghipunya told the judge he has engaged another lawyer, Veiko Alexander, to represent him.

Shuudifonya, who was represented by Engelbrecht on instructions from the Directorate of Legal Aid, said he would still appoint another lawyer.

Engelbrecht is still representing former Windhoek City Police officer Phillipus Mwapopi.

Du Plessis gave her directive about the answering of the state’s pretrial memorandum after she struck an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, filed by Shanghala, James Hatuikulipi and Pius Mwatelulo, from the court roll yesterday.

Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo wanted to be allowed to appeal against a ruling in which most of an application by them to have the state ordered to disclose further information linked to their case was dismissed six weeks ago.

In a ruling delivered on 8 September, Du Plessis only ordered the state to deliver to Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo an additional printed copy of the docket contents already provided to the accused in the matter.

Du Plessis said in her ruling on the application for leave to appeal by Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo that the ruling she handed down on 8 September was interlocutory, meaning it is not a final order, and that exceptional circumstances would have to exist for an appeal against an interlocutory order to be allowed.

She added that she did not find there were any exceptional circumstances which would convince her to allow the three accused to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Du Plessis postponed the case to 25 November.

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