Former minister of agriculture, fisheries, water and land reform Mac Hengari is due to hear on Friday if he will be held in custody for longer following his arrest nearly six weeks ago.
This is after defence lawyer Patrick Kauta argued before magistrate Monica Andjaba in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court yesterday that Hengari’s arrest on a charge of attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice was unlawful, and that Hengari should be released from custody as a result.
Kauta argued that Hengari was arrested on 26 April without a warrant for his arrest and as a result of a sting operation set up by the police, which he also argued was unlawful.
“A sting operation is something a police officer should not use proudly in a statement,” Kauta said, referring to a witness statement in which the police officer who took Hengari into custody declared that his arrest followed on a sting operation set up by the police.
According to a dictionary definition of a ‘sting’, it is an operation involving deception, Kauta noted.
He made the argument about the alleged unlawfulness of Hengari’s arrest after deputy prosecutor general Filistas Shikerete-Vendura, representing the state, asked the magistrate to postpone Hengari’s case to 3 July and to order that he should remain in custody in the meantime.
Hengari and a co-accused were both arrested on 26 April and made a first appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on a charge of attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice two days later.
In the charge, the state is alleging that they offered a payment of N$222 000 to a woman who registered a rape charge against Hengari with the police, in return for withdrawing the charge against him.
The name of Hengari’s co-accused, who is related to the complainant in the rape case, is not being published to protect the complainant’s identity.
Shikerete-Vendura informed the magistrate that three witness statements should still be recorded by the police, while the outcome of a forensic analysis is also still being awaited in the matter.
She also asked for two additional charges to be added to the charge on which Hengari initially appeared in court.
The new charges are counts of corruptly giving gratification, which is an offence under the Anti-Corruption Act, and incitement to commit an offence of compounding, which is committed when a complainant in a criminal matter agrees to withdraw a charge in exchange for money.
Kauta told the magistrate he objected to Hengari again being remanded in custody when the case is postponed.
In a statement that Kauta read out in court, a police officer investigating the case said the police received information on 17 April that Hengari and the second accused were conspiring to defeat or obstruct the course of justice, by offering a payment to the complainant in the rape case registered against Hengari.
The officer said the police set up a sting operation which on 25 April included a meeting between Hengari and the complainant at a lodge in Windhoek.
During that meeting, a proposed settlement in the rape case was discussed, but no transaction took place, the officer stated.
The next day, a meeting between Hengari, his co-accused and the complainant took place in the Eros area of Windhoek, the officer recounted in his statement.
That meeting took place in Hengari’s car, the officer said.
He added that after receiving a signal that a transaction had occurred, he approached Hengari’s car, introduced himself to Hengari and informed him he was being placed under arrest.
The officer said cash in an amount of N$220 000 was found in a bag in Hengari’s vehicle.
Kauta argued that the officer’s statement showed the police knew of a conspiracy on 17 April, but between then and 26 April they did not obtain a warrant for Hengari’s arrest.
He also questioned why Hengari was not arrested after the meeting at a lodge in Windhoek, since according to the police a conspiracy was agreed to on that occasion, and why the rape complainant and the police’s investigating officer were not arrested as well, for having been part of the conspiracy.
“The police are not only co-conspirators, they are investigating themselves. That is unlawful,” Kauta claimed.
Defence lawyer Kadhila Amoomo, representing the second accused, objected to a postponement for further investigations to be carried out.
He also accused the prosecution of withholding information from the court, and claimed: “The matter is being prosecuted elsewhere.”
Andjaba said she would give a ruling on whether Hengari should be held in custody for longer on Friday.
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