Deputy Judge President Hannelie Prinsloo yesterday dismissed an application by Fishrot heavyweight and former justice minister Sacky Shanghala, James Hatuikulipi and Pius Mwatelulo to have the decisions of former Fishrot judge, Moses Chinhengo, declared null and void and for the trial to start de novo or from scratch.
The judge did not provide reasons for her ruling and indicated that the reasons will be uploaded to e-justice soonest. However, at the time of writing this article, the reasons were not available. This will now effectively pave the way for the trial to resume before acting judge Marilize du Plessis, where Chinhengo left off.
Judge Chinhengo resigned as the judge presiding over the Fishrot trial in July for ‘personal reasons’ after Shanghala persistently sought his removal. Shanghala wanted Judge Prinsloo to declare that non-Namibian citizens can only be appointed as judges under a singular fixed-term contract of employment.
Chinhengo was first appointed for a period of three months from September until December, and his tenure was extended further, a move Shanghala said was unlawful and unconstitutional. Shanghala has also lodged another application for the State to provide him with further disclosure, which will be heard on 21 August.
Shanghala and co wants Judge Du Plessis to order the State to provide them with bilateral agreements between Namibia, Iceland, Norway and the United Arab Emirates in terms of the International Co-operation in Criminal Matters Act, and disclose to them responses obtained from those countries as a result of mutual legal assistance requests made by Namibia.
They further want the court to order the State to provide them with information on communication between the Anti-Corruption Commission and investigators of their case. In addition, they are asking for an order directing the State to furnish them with information on meetings held by an integrated investigating task force that carried out an investigation in their matter, including the minutes of those meetings.
Ricardo Gustavo, who has been without a lawyer since his previous legal eagle, Trevor Brockerhoff withdrew over lack of funds, has in the meantime succeeded in acquiring a Legal Aid instructed lawyer. It was announced in court that Peter Elago was appointed by Legal Aid to represent Gustavo.
He, however, told the court that he only heard of it through the grapevine and has had no official communication from Legal Aid on the issue. He also told the court that in his view, his lawyer will have to come on board and will have to work through the discovery that spans more than 165 000 pages and still consult with him before he can appear in court. He said that his lawyer will need time, and the agreed upon dates could not suit him.