Leading figures in Caprivi treason trial end boycott

“I AM back.”
With these words from the alleged commander of the secessionist Caprivi Liberation Army, John Samboma, a boycott of the main Caprivi high treason trial that has lasted close to two years came to an end for two leading figures in the ranks of the 117 alleged separatists charged in the trial yesterday.

The trial, taking place in the High Court building on the grounds of Windhoek Central Prison, resumed on Monday after an adjournment of a month and a half.
With the start of the court session yesterday, one of the 30 accused men in the trial who have been boycotting trial proceedings since March 12 2007, Aggrey Makendano, rose to address Judge Elton Hoff, with an announcement that he had decided to attend trial proceedings again and to defend himself against the evidence that the prosecution team has been presenting to the court.
Makendano also told Judge Hoff that he has decided that he wants defence lawyer Christopher Dube, who previously represented him, to again represent him as the trial proceeds.
Samboma was next to address the court.
“I decided to come back to court to challenge all the evidence that has been laid against me by the help of a legal mind. So I am back. Thank you,” he said.
Judge Hoff asked him if he was back in court to contest the merits of the case throughout the trial.
“Indeed so,” Samboma answered.
When Samboma, Makendano and 28 co-accused decided close to two years ago that they would stop attending proceedings in the trial, Makendano told Judge Hoff that this decision had been prompted by their belief that the laws and Constitution of Namibia do not apply in the Caprivi Region, and that the region is not part of Namibia.
Makendano said then that he and the others in their group were not prepared to sit in on the trial to hear what State witnesses had to say to the court, because they did not believe that they were part of the trial.
He said he and the rest of the group would be willing to return to court only after the State had closed its case against them.
By the time that they absented themselves from the trial, half of the thirty boycotting accused – including Samboma and Makendano – had not been represented by defence lawyers for two years. That state of affairs arose after the lawyers who were representing them refused in early 2005 to carry out instructions from 15 of their clients to challenge the Namibian state’s and Namibian courts’ jurisdiction over the Caprivi Region.
Defence lawyer Dube told Judge Hoff yesterday that while in principle his previous position that he remained willing to represent his former clients was unchanged, he would first have to consider the new situation before he informs the court today whether he would again be taking on their defence.
The trial continued this week with the 340th witness to testify for the prosecution in the main part of the trial, South African handwriting expert Ludwig du Toit, starting to give evidence about a host of documents that he analysed in an effort to identify the authors of the handwriting appearing on that material.
– werner@namibian.com.na