Mushe murder trial deferred to August

Home Crime and Courts Mushe murder trial deferred to August

The trial of four men who stand accused of killing Alex Maluli Mushe in April 2017 in Dorado, Windhoek is now scheduled to start in August due to the countrywide scaling down of court services.
Kleopas Malima (24), his brother Nande Malima (23) and their friends Kenibirth Ashipala (25), and Robert Shikongo (25) were initially scheduled to be tried early this month, however not all accused had legal representation.

During their appearance in court last week, all accused persons informed the court that they have all managed to acquire services of legal counsels.  

Lawyers Kadhila Amoomo and Flora Gaes will represent the accused during their trial which is scheduled to start on 24 August.  
All accused are currently out on bail.
Kleopas and his co-accused are expected to be tried on a count of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and defeating the course of justice. All charges emanate from the death of Mushe on 6 April 2017.

The prosecution alleges the group intentionally killed Mushe by stabbing him with a knife. The prosecution further claims the charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances derives from the fact the group stole the deceased’s bag and was in possession of a dangerous weapon that was later used in the killing.
The prosecution claims that having forced Mushe into submission, the accused stole his bag and ran off. Mushe allegedly died from excessive bleeding due to the stab wounds said to have been inflicted by Kleopas and his co-accused.

The accused have since denied any wrong doing apart from Kleopas who confessed to the killing during his court appearance in Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in 2017. Court records indicate that Kleopas admitted that he stabbed Mushe because he had hit him with a stone.

During the bail hearing of Nande and Shikongo, Nande testified that he saw his elder brother Kleopas stabbing the deceased.
-mamakali@nepc.com.na