By Kuvee Kangueehi WINDHOEK Former Supreme Court Judge Pio Marapi Teek was acquitted on all charges on Friday morning in the Windhoek High Court. Delivering his two-hour judgment to a packed courtroom, the South African Judge Ronnie Bosielo who presided over the high-profile case noted that the State had failed to produce credible or sufficient evidence for a conviction. Bosielo found Teek not guilty on all charges which ranged from rape, attempted rape and kidnapping to supplying liquor to minors early last year after he picked up two young girls aged nine and ten in the vicinity of the Single Quarters, Katutura on 28 January 2005. Bosielo noted that the evidence of the two complainants, which could have been key to a successful prosecution of Teek, had been conflicting, contradicting and that generally the quality of the evidence was poor. Bosielo during his judgment highlighted over twenty incidents where the versions of the two complainants were totally different. He added that the older girl tried in her testimony and her evidence she gave to the police by all means to make her story creditable and her story kept on growing and growing. “This case is a classical case of evidence of poor quality that any credible court cannot convict on. The older complainant is a pathological liar,” he said. The South African justice further noted that it is clear that the two complainants are neglected and naughty and come from seriously dysfunctional families with poor guidance. “What kind of parental control do these parents exercise over their children if the children can go to parties without the parents knowing, what type of party and who will be at the party?” the judge enquired. He further noted that he could not ignore the fact that he could only rely on the two witnesses’ evidence but stated that the investigations were poor. “Regrettably, many good cases are being lost by the State because the police forget the basic ethics of a proper investigation.” He ruled that the conduct of the police was unprofessional and that in fact the police initiated the charges. Echoing Teek’s defence lawyer’s earlier statements, Bosielo said the investigation was so poorly done that critical information was left out, evidence was tampered with, police officials were negligent and that they even fabricated statements to incriminate Teek. Bosielo added that the State did not have sufficient evidence and that it would be unconstitutional for the State to request the accused judge in the witness box to answer to charges that were initiated by the police. Bosielo also noted that he would write to the Ministry of Safety and Security to launch a full-scale investigation of all the police officials that were involved in the Teek case. He said Deputy Commissioner Marius Visser should follow up his pledge in court that he would investigate the role the police played in the matter. “It is unfortunate that when things happened in this way, the public lose its confidence in the police. The conduct of the police investigation team in this case should be investigated by both the ministries of Home Affairs and Justice.” Bosielo added that against this background, the defence team’s application for discharge was successful and the accused former judge was discharged and acquitted on all charges. However, as soon as Bosielo delivered his judgment, the Deputy Prosecutor-General Heidi Jacobs indicated that the State would lodge an appeal against the judgment as soon as possible. The case was heard in the same court in which Teek had for many years presided over hundreds of criminal cases and sent criminal offenders to jail. Teek’s lawyer Richard Metcalfe described the case as one of his biggest and said he does not rule out a civil case against the state. The allegations against Teek brought his illustrious judicial career to a premature end.