Is This Justice?

PLEASE allow me space in your newspaper to pose this question to the Minister of Justice, the Judiciary, the Namibian Government and the Namibian people at large.

This follows articles and news in the media regarding the extradition appeal of Mr Hans Jurgen Koch and the granting of bail and release from custody of Mr Jacob ‘Kobi’ Alexander. I found the cases of the two men to be extremely similar in the nature of allegations levelled against them and the fact that they are both wanted for extradition to German and America, respectively.What I found absolutely shocking is the difference in manner in which the case of these two gentlemen have been handled by the courts and what I would term an injustice.Mr Koch is wanted for alleged fraud and tax evasion of a couple of hundred million Namibia dollars but he was refused bail, despite the fact that he offered to pay bail in the amount of $15 million dollars, offered to hand in his travel documents and abide by any strict conditions, including being put under house arrest.On top of that Mr Koch is a permanent resident of Namibia and has been Namibia’s Honorary Consul Bayern and Baden-Wurtternberg.Mr Koch settled permanently in Namibia in 1999 and invested considerably in the tourism industry of Namibia and created employment for many Namibians.Since bail was refused him in 2002, Mr Koch has spent four years in custody.To make matters worse, today we read in the newspapers that the Supreme Court has reserved judgment in his appeal case and he may have to spend another Christmas in jail, i.e.five years in custody for crimes he did not even commit in Namibia.On the other hand, Mr Kobi Alexander, the Israeli national who was arrested last week and wanted for extradition on similar charges, but amounting to more than a billion dollars, and who has spent only a few months in the country on a work permit, jumped bail in America, only spent six days in custody and was granted bail in the amount of N$10 million, much less than Mr Koch offered to pay.Further, he was given lenient conditions that he must apparently not leave the district of Windhoek or Walvis Bay without the permission of his investigating officer, hand in his travel documents and report twice a week etc.This is laughable if Mr Koch could be jailed because the Court was afraid that he would abscond then the same should have also applied to Mr Alexander.I am not advocating that Mr Alexander should be locked up, I am merely pointing out a fact of injustice in Mr Koch’s case and say that the danger of absconding weighs more against Mr Alexander than Mr Koch.After all, Mr Alexander has already jumped bail in America and absconded to Namibia.The same condition was given to him that he should not leave the district or country without the permission of his investigating officers.Permission was given for him to go on an annual holiday to Israel and what happened? He absconded to Namibia instead of going back to America to stand trial.Yet, he was granted bail and released.Mr Koch, on the other hand, knew well before his arrest he was going to be arrested, yet he did not run away.Instead of taking this point into consideration and in his favour, the Court did the contrary by ordering his incarceration and the Police, for unknown reasons, confiscated his documents to this day.The result is the man whose case had more merit to be granted bail has spent four years in custody, while the one who had already jumped bail spent only six days in custody.Why can’t Mr Koch also be released to fight his extradition outside like Mr Alexander? Is this justice? Anonymous WindhoekI found the cases of the two men to be extremely similar in the nature of allegations levelled against them and the fact that they are both wanted for extradition to German and America, respectively.What I found absolutely shocking is the difference in manner in which the case of these two gentlemen have been handled by the courts and what I would term an injustice.Mr Koch is wanted for alleged fraud and tax evasion of a couple of hundred million Namibia dollars but he was refused bail, despite the fact that he offered to pay bail in the amount of $15 million dollars, offered to hand in his travel documents and abide by any strict conditions, including being put under house arrest.On top of that Mr Koch is a permanent resident of Namibia and has been Namibia’s Honorary Consul Bayern and Baden-Wurtternberg.Mr Koch settled permanently in Namibia in 1999 and invested considerably in the tourism industry of Namibia and created employment for many Namibians.Since bail was refused him in 2002, Mr Koch has spent four years in custody.To make matters worse, today we read in the newspapers that the Supreme Court has reserved judgment in his appeal case and he may have to spend another Christmas in jail, i.e.five years in custody for crimes he did not even commit in Namibia.On the other hand, Mr Kobi Alexander, the Israeli national who was arrested last week and wanted for extradition on similar charges, but amounting to more than a billion dollars, and who has spent only a few months in the country on a work permit, jumped bail in America, only spent six days in custody and was granted bail in the amount of N$10 million, much less than Mr Koch offered to pay.Further, he was given lenient conditions that he must apparently not leave the district of Windhoek or Walvis Bay without the permission of his investigating officer, hand in his travel documents and report twice a week etc.This is laughable if Mr Koch could be jailed because the Court was afraid that he would abscond then the same should have also applied to Mr Alexander.I am not advocating that Mr Alexander should be locked up, I am merely pointing out a fact of injustice in Mr Koch’s case and say that the danger of absconding weighs more against Mr Alexander than Mr Koch.After all, Mr Alexander has already jumped bail in America and absconded to Namibia.The same condition was given to him that he should not leave the district or country without the permission of his investigating officers.Permission was given for him to go on an annual holiday to Israel and what happened? He absconded to Namibia instead of going back to America to stand trial.Yet, he was granted bail and released.Mr Koch, on the other hand, knew well before his arrest he was going to be arrested, yet he did not run away.Instead of taking this point into consideration and in his favour, the Court did the contrary by ordering his incarceration and the Police, for unknown reasons, confiscated his documents to this day.The result is the man whose case had more merit to be granted bail has spent four years in custody, while the one who had already jumped bail spent only six days in custody.Why can’t Mr Koch also be released to fight his extradition outside like Mr Alexander? Is this justice? Anonymous Windhoek