Acquitted Caprivi treason accused back in court Forty-two of the recently acquitted treason accused are back in court after the State decided to file an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court against the acquittal.The State believes it has reasonable prospects of success on appeal, considering the various rulings by former High Court Judge Elton Hoff, who is now on the Supreme Court bench.
There were 121 accused who originally went on trial for the secessionist uprising in the then Caprivi Region in 1999. There have been acquittals, where certain accused were found not guilty, as well as convictions.
The August 1999 attacks, orchestrated by the Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA), rocked Namibia and resulted in a state of emergency being declared in the then Caprivi Region.
The 121 accused were charged with high treason, murder, sedition and many other offences, eventually facing over 270 counts of criminal conduct.
Of the 121 men who went on trial before Hoff at the end of October 2003, 44 were eventually discharged by the High Court after the prosecution closed its case.
In September 2015, 35 accused were found not guilty on the main charge of high treason and related counts while only 30 accused were found guilty and subsequently sentenced.
State Advocate Lourens Ignatius Campher explained in his grounds of appeal that the presiding judge at the end of treason trial changed the law in Namibia concerning the future admittance of evidence and especially on constitutionality issues such as the right to legal aid before a confession is made.
He said the decision by the High Court to acquit the 42 men on high treason, murder, attempted murder and unlawful possession of arms and ammunition, will especially bind the lower court.
“It is thus argued that this issue, with its far-reaching consequences should be tested and ruled upon by our Supreme Court,” Campher argued.
The State''s application for leave to appeal to Supreme Court will be heard today in the High Court in Windhoek.
Campher maintained that Hoff, already at the end of the case, granted the State leave to appeal against 12 of the confessions that were ruled inadmissible on constitutionality issues.
According to him, Hoff indicated in his ruling that ruling as inadmissible the so-called “deployment list” is something which possibly can be argued on appeal.
“Once the State is granted leave to appeal their chances of success on appeal in the Supreme Court on the dismissal of vital evidence, such as the so-called deployment lists, and evidence ruled inadmissible on constitutional grounds, such as confession by various accused persons, Section 119 proceedings and bail application, is strong,” Campher maintained.
The State lawyer was in the early stages of the treason trial the prosecutor in the case but had resigned before the trial started and joined the private sector.
He said after he again joined the Office of the Prosecutor General he found that there were numerous civil claims against the government by the accused persons who were acquitted.
The civil claims involved disclosure of numerous documents.
Nearly all of the 30 accused persons that were convicted and sentenced in the case made numerous applications for leave to appeal.
The state intended to defend the convictions and sentences and as such opposed the accused persons leave to appeal.
FRED GOEIEMAN