The state has been given more time to make a decision about the prosecution of the two men accused of involvement in a fatal armed robbery at the head office of the state-owned company Namib Desert Diamonds (Namdia) in January last year.
The state received more time to investigate the case and make a decision about the prosecution of the two accused, Joel Angula (46) and Sam Shololo (50), in a ruling delivered in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
In her ruling, magistrate Olga Muharukua said the state’s application for a postponement of the matter was justifiable. She postponed the case to 18 June.
Muharukua noted that when the state requested a postponement two weeks ago, the court was informed that parallel investigations are being carried out in cases registered in Windhoek and at Noordoewer and Keetmanshoop.
After Angula and Shololo gave their pleas to the charges they are facing in October last year, investigators received instructions from the prosecutor general about additional investigations that had to be done, the court was also informed.
The matter was postponed for the prosecutor general to make a decision about the charges on which Angula and Shololo should stand trial and the court in which they will be tried after they denied guilt on all charges last year.
Defence lawyer Tuna Nhinda objected to a further postponement of the case two weeks ago.
Angula, who is a former police officer, was employed by Namdia as a security officer when an armed robbery took place at the company’s premises in Windhoek on 18 January 2025.
A Namdia security officer, Francis Eiseb (58), and one of the alleged robbers, Max Endjala (43), were killed when they were shot during the heist.
The state is alleging that 51 725 carats of diamonds, valued at N$335.6 million, were stolen during the heist, and that about 47 250 carats of diamonds, valued at N$295 million, have not been recovered after the armed robbery.
It is also alleged that unpolished diamonds valued at about N$4.8 million were found hidden in boots at Angula’s home in Windhoek on 19 January last year.
Testifying during a bail hearing in December last year, Angula denied that he had removed diamonds from the Namdia premises.
He also told the court that Endjala was his cousin and best friend, and that he and Shololo are relatives, with Shololo described by him as his uncle.
Angula’s application to be granted bail did not succeed, and he and Shololo are both being held in custody.
The charges against them include counts of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, attempted murder and possession of rough diamonds.
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