Africa-Press – Namibia. SIX of the men charged in the Fishrot fishing quotas fraud and corruption case are due to hear by the end of next week if they will be permitted to appeal against a judgement in which their applications to be granted bail were dismissed at the start of April.
Judge Shafimana Ueitele on Friday heard oral arguments in the Windhoek High Court on an application by the six for leave appeal to the Supreme Court against the judgement in which Ueitele refused to grant them bail.
Ueitele said he would deliver his ruling on the application by no later than 22 July.
Ueitele dismissed the bail applications of former justice minister Sacky Shanghala, his business partner James Hatuikulipi, former National Fishing Corporation of Namibia chief executive Mike Nghipunya, Pius Mwatelulo, Otneel Shuudifonya and Phillipus Mwapopi after concluding it would not be in the interests of justice to grant them bail.
Having noted that the state was alleging the men had tried to interfere with the investigation of their case and with witnesses in the matter, and that four of them were also charged with obstructing the course of justice, Ueitele stated: “To the contrary, I hold the view that the administration of justice will be prejudiced if the applicants were admitted to bail.”
In his judgement, he also said the fact the six have spent more than two years in custody following their arrests did not automatically entitle them to be released on bail.
In an appeal notice filed at the court on behalf of Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo, it is stated that they want the Supreme Court to declare Ueitele’s judgement a nullity, because his signed judgement contains a number of paragraphs which he did not read out when he delivered his judgement in court on 1 April, and Ueitele was not entitled to supplement the judgement he read in court.
Senior counsel Vas Soni, who is representing Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo, argued on Friday that Ueitele in effect delivered two judgements, which he said was impermissible.
That is an issue on which the Supreme Court would have to make a decision, Soni said.
Ueitele in response said he made some corrections to the judgement that he read in court and added a few sentences to it, but that its substance and the grounds for his decision remained the same.
Soni also argued that the fact that another judge of the High Court, judge Herman Oosthuizen, in December granted bail of N$800 000 to another of the accused in the same case, Ricardo Gustavo, was sufficient reason for Ueitele to permit an appeal against his judgement.
On behalf of the state, deputy prosecutor general Cliff Lutibezi argued that the Supreme Court would not come to a different conclusion than the one reached by Ueitele on 1 April, when he found that the six accused did not show it would be in the interests of justice for them to be granted bail.
The six men and four co-accused are scheduled to have a next pretrial hearing in the High Court on 20 July.
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