Jonas trial set for next year

Jonas trial set for next yearNature of trial not yet known by NNOC After months of waiting for a trial date for Namibian boxer Jonas Junias Jonas in Brazil, his legal team has finally received a trial date in January. Namibian boxer Jonas Junias Jonas''s rape case has been allocated a trial date, says Namibia''s Chef de Mission to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Jessie Schickerling.

Schickerling told Namibian Sun yesterday that the case will be heard in court on 25 January 2017 in Rio de Janeiro.

“The update that I have is that a trial date has been set for 25 January. What the nature of the trial is I don''t know,” he said, adding that it might be that it is just all preliminary legal issues that they will argue or it might be the full trial, “so we still do not know exactly but I suspect that it might start by arguing some legal issues I suppose.”

The legal practitioners representing Jonas last month filed an application to set aside the arrest and preliminary hearing proceedings, or alternatively an order for clearing the charge, arguing that “based on the complainant''s version, there was no rape.”

Schickerling mentioned that he thinks the trial date was set after they had lodged those papers. “The judge sent a message back to the prosecutor-general again for consideration so I think it is probably those issues that are going to be argued on that day,” he said.

Jonas (22), who is in the care of the Namibian embassy in Rio, is said to be doing well.

“Jonas is doing fine, we are in regular contact and from what we hear from the embassy is that he is in good spirit and just waiting for these formalities to be finalised,” Schickerling said. He added that the legal practitioners had informed the NNOC that they would start their consultations with Jonas in due course.

Schickerling said Jonas was in constant contact with his mother, and so was the NNOC.