WINDHOEK – The French national wanted in India on alleged sexual crimes committed against children has successfully appealed the extradition order issued by Magistrate Cosmos Endjala in September this year.
Judge Christi Liebenberg in concurrence with Judge Naomi Shivute upheld the appeal on Friday and ordered the immediate discharge of Furic.
Judge Liebenberg who wrote the judgment said that none of the witness statements describing criminal conduct, allegedly by the appellant, satisfy the requirements of evidence admissible at an enquiry in terms of the Extradition Act.
He added that an “inevitable consequence thereof is that without such evidence there can be no prima facie case against the appellant and the appeal must succeed”.
He said witness statements and other documents could not have been admitted as evidence as it did not meet the requirements of the Rules of the High Court on authentication as no such rule exists in the Rules of the Magistrates’ Courts.
Sisa Namandje brought the appeal on behalf of Furic and claimed in court papers the Frenchman was not properly identified as the “subject” of the extradition request.
Furic was arrested on June 20 this year in Walvis Bay on a red notice from Interpol.
It was alleged he engaged in sexual acts with a group of children in the coastal town of Puri in Odisha State in India.
Namandje argued that Furic went through what could be described as “a fundamentally flawed attempt at an extradition process”.
According to Judge Liebenberg the high standard of proof and onus is on the State to show there is prima facie evidence that the person, whose extradition is sought, committed the alleged crimes in a foreign country.
“The present instance illustrates the difficulties the requesting country may encounter when preparing documents and statements supporting the request for extradition, while such country might not always be familiar with our law and the standard of proof that is required before the person could be extradited to a foreign country,” he said.
He bemoaned the fact that despite repeated calls made by the Supreme Court on the legislature to address this unfortunate situation, no progress has been made.
According to Judge Liebenberg this could create the impression that Namibia is a safe haven for criminals who committed serious offences outside its borders and that the chances of having them successfully extradited are remote.
Simba Nduna appeared on behalf of the State.
By Roland Routh