High treason trial delayed by former MP’s absence

THE absence of one of the 107 accused in the Caprivi high treason case, currently before the High Court at Grootfontein, forced a week-long delay in the planned start of the main trial yesterday.

Former DTA National Assembly member Geoffrey Mwilima was not present in the dock when the high treason case was called before Judge Elton Hoff yesterday morning. Also not present was Deputy Prosecutor General Herman January, who is leading the prosecution team.January had to return to Windhoek on Sunday after receiving news that his father had passed away.Prosecution team member Taswald July told the Judge that he had been informed that Mwilima had been hospitalised in Windhoek.As it was desirable that Mwilima should be present when the accused were asked to plead to the 278 charges against them, the matter would have to be postponed until Mwilima could rejoin his co-accused in the dock, the court was told.In reply, defence team member Jorge Neves told Judge Hoff that the defence had only been informed of the situation surrounding Mwilima, but did not itself have information on it.He said the defence would not object to a week-long postponement so that it, too, could consult Mwilima’s doctors to get clarity on his state of health.Judge Hoff pointed out that in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act it was imperative that an accused should be present in court, especially when he had to plead to the charges against him, and thereafter during proceedings in the trial.He postponed the case to next week Monday.The defence had been prepared to plead yesterday to the charges facing the remaining 107 suspects.From October last year until now, proceedings in the case have been taken up by the hearing of a special plea in which 13 of the accused disputed the court’s jurisdiction.They succeeded with the plea and were discharged from the case by Judge Hoff two weeks ago, but have since been re-arrested, again on charges of high treason.One of Mwilima’s co-accused, former Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) producer Bernard Mucheka, yesterday decried the week-long postponement as another example of delaying tactics on the part of the prosecution.He claimed that Mwilima was not ill, but merely had an appointment to see his doctor for a check-up yesterday.The leader of the Police team investigating the high treason case, Deputy Commissioner Abraham Maasdorp, confirmed on enquiry that Mwilima had not been hospitalised, but had to be in Windhoek for a doctor’s appointment.The 48-year-old Mwilima suffers from diabetes.He has been in custody since being arrested at Katima Mulilo on August 4 1999, two days after armed members of an alleged separatist organisation, the Caprivi Liberation Army, were claimed to have attacked Government-related targets at Katima Mulilo.In the days after his arrest he was subjected to one of the most publicised incidents of torture and assault at the hands of Namibian Police officers since Independence.His back and shoulders have been left scarred from sjambok beatings, while his jaw was broken and he lost some of his teeth as a result of the assaults while in Police custody at Katima Mulilo.Also not present was Deputy Prosecutor General Herman January, who is leading the prosecution team.January had to return to Windhoek on Sunday after receiving news that his father had passed away.Prosecution team member Taswald July told the Judge that he had been informed that Mwilima had been hospitalised in Windhoek.As it was desirable that Mwilima should be present when the accused were asked to plead to the 278 charges against them, the matter would have to be postponed until Mwilima could rejoin his co-accused in the dock, the court was told.In reply, defence team member Jorge Neves told Judge Hoff that the defence had only been informed of the situation surrounding Mwilima, but did not itself have information on it.He said the defence would not object to a week-long postponement so that it, too, could consult Mwilima’s doctors to get clarity on his state of health.Judge Hoff pointed out that in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act it was imperative that an accused should be present in court, especially when he had to plead to the charges against him, and thereafter during proceedings in the trial.He postponed the case to next week Monday.The defence had been prepared to plead yesterday to the charges facing the remaining 107 suspects.From October last year until now, proceedings in the case have been taken up by the hearing of a special plea in which 13 of the accused disputed the court’s jurisdiction.They succeeded with the plea and were discharged from the case by Judge Hoff two weeks ago, but have since been re-arrested, again on charges of high treason.One of Mwilima’s co-accused, former Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) producer Bernard Mucheka, yesterday decried the week-long postponement as another example of delaying tactics on the part of the prosecution.He claimed that Mwilima was not ill, but merely had an appointment to see his doctor for a check-up yesterday.The leader of the Police team investigating the high treason case, Deputy Commissioner Abraham Maasdorp, confirmed on enquiry that Mwilima had not been hospitalised, but had to be in Windhoek for a doctor’s appointment.The 48-year-old Mwilima suffers from diabetes.He has been in custody since being arrested at Katima Mulilo on August 4 1999, two days after armed members of an alleged separatist organisation, the Caprivi Liberation Army, were claimed to have attacked Government-related targets at Katima Mulilo.In the days after his arrest he was subjected to one of the most publicised incidents of torture and assault at the hands of Namibian Police officers since Independence.His back and shoulders have been left scarred from sjambok beatings, while his jaw was broken and he lost some of his teeth as a result of the assaults while in Police custody at Katima Mulilo.