Africa-Press – Namibia. TWO ex-employees of diamond mining company De Beers Marine Namibia have been found not guilty of the theft of gemstones valued at N$6,2 million on a ship of the company 10 years ago.
Emmanuel Shikololo (48) and Rodney Klim (48) were acquitted by judge Christie Liebenberg in the Windhoek High Court yesterday, after the judge found that the prosecution’s main witness in their trial did not give a credible version to the court when he testified.
Liebenberg said although the evidence did not explicitly expose the state’s key witness, Debmarine Namibia security officer Dawid Jarvis, as having fabricated evidence to set up and falsely incriminate Shikololo and Klim, such a possibility could not be excluded.
The judge said Jarvis was a single witness in respect of most of the allegations against Shikololo and Klim, and that his evidence had to be approached with caution.
Jarvis played a leading role in a sting operation which ended in the arrest of Shikololo and Klim in November 2011, but although that operation stretched over several months “there was not an iota of evidence adduced that corroborates any aspect of Jarvis’ evidence”, Liebenberg commented.
He said Shikololo and Klim, who denied guilt on the charges they faced, did not flinch under cross-examination when they testified during their trial, and appeared to be credible witnesses.
The state alleged that while Shikololo and Klim were employed by De Beers Marine Namibia, now known as Debmarine Namibia, they planned to steal diamonds from a mining vessel of the company, the Debmar Atlantic.
It was also alleged that Shikololo and Klim tried to involve Jarvis in their plan.
The prosecution alleged that the theft was carried out on 6 November 2011, when Shikololo handed a bag containing 453 diamonds, weighing 668 carats and valued at about N$6,2 million, to Jarvis.
Jarvis testified that Shikololo first approached him during October 2010 and mentioned to him there was something he wanted to take off the marine mining vessel.
He said he contacted a member of the company’s security unit and reported Shikololo’s suggestion.
A sting operation was then set in motion by the company’s security staff.
According to Jarvis, Shikololo came to his cabin on the ship in September 2011 and told him he was working with a partner, who was Klim, his supervisor at the vessel’s diamond recovery plant.
He further told the court that he, Shikololo, and Klim travelled to Cape Town, where they met a Portuguese man who was going to buy the diamonds which were to be removed from the mining vessel, during October 2011.
Jarvis said Shikololo handed him a bag of diamonds on the mining ship on 6 November 2011.
The handover of the gemstones was supposed to have been filmed on security cameras on the ship and monitored by other security officers through a video link, but no witnesses who also saw that visual evidence testified during the trial, Liebenberg said.
According to Jarvis, he also made recordings of conversations he had with Shikololo during meetings when they discussed the plan to steal diamonds from the ship. None of those recordings were provided to the court as evidence to corroborate Jarvis’ version, though.
Defence lawyers Meriam Kandoni and Loretha Muvangua represented Shikololo and Klim, respectively.
State advocate Ian Malumani prosecuted.
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