Africa-Press – Namibia. A POLICE officer who was charged with murder after a fatal shooting incident at a roadblock in February 2011 has been found not guilty at the end of his trial in the Windhoek Regional Court.
Magistrate Johannes Shuuveni acquitted Isaskar Oaseb on a count of murder and an alternative charge of culpable homicide in a judgement delivered on Thursday.
The magistrate found it had not been proven that Oaseb (32) had an intention to kill Matheus ‘Shippi’ Shipanga, who was the driver of a car that failed to stop at a police roadblock in the early morning hours of 6 February 2011, or that Oaseb in the circumstances of the incident foresaw the possibility that someone could be killed when he fired shots at tyres of Shipanga’s car.
Shuuveni further found it was justified for Oaseb to have used a firearm to shoot at the tyres of Shipanga’s car in an attempt to stop the vehicle, and said the fact that a bullet missed the tyres and struck Shipanga in his view “was purely accidental and should be excused”. It had not been proven that Oaseb had been negligent when one of the shots fired by him struck Shipanga in the back, he concluded.
Shipanga (36), who was employed by the National Theatre of Namibia, was fatally injured in the shooting, which took place at a roadblock which police officers had set up on Sam Nujoma Drive, between Windhoek’s Rocky Crest and Otjomuise areas, as part of an anti-crime campaign. Oaseb denied guilt on the main count of murder and the alternative charge when his trial began in May this year.
In a written plea explanation given to the court, he denied that he intended to injure or kill Shipanga when he fired shots at Shipanga’s car with an AK-47 rifle, and stated that he shot at the car in an attempt to prevent Shipanga from fleeing from the roadblock. Oaseb also said the fatal shooting was accidental and that he regretted the loss of Shipanga’s life.
The magistrate recounted that according to Oaseb and two state witnesses who testified during the trial, the incident happened in a matter of seconds, with Shipanga’s car arriving at the roadblock and slowing down before it suddenly accelerated and drove through, nearly hitting some police officers, who jumped to the side of the road to get out of the car’s way.
As the car drove through and started to speed away, Oaseb and one of his colleagues reacted by firing warning shots and then taking aim at the vehicle’s tyres.
Shuuveni commented that in his view there was no good reason for Shipanga to have fled from the police manning the roadblock. Had he stopped as directed by the police, the loss of his life, which was regrettable, could have been avoided, Shuuveni added. Oaseb was represented by deputy government attorney Mkhululi Khupe during his trial. Public prosecutor Sirkka Nangoro represented the state.
