A woman accused of murdering her two minor children and attempting to kill the third one in Ethiopia last year, was set free yesterday on an order of the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court.
Magistrate Venatius Alweendo temporarily withdrew the case against Kristofina Amutenya, wife of a Namibian diplomat based in Ethiopia, on the state’s request.
State prosecutor Rowan van Wyk said the state requested the provisional withdrawal of the case against the 34-year-old Amutenya pending the outcome of the urgent application lodged on Tuesday in the High Court before Judge Hosea Angula.
The hearing is scheduled for this afternoon.
Amutenya can however be re-summoned to appear in court.
Amutenya was arrested on 13 December 2020 following allegations that she murdered her children Jenay (9) and Jane (3) at their family home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
She is further accused of attempting to murder a third child before she tried committing suicide.
According to the state, Amutenya was not indicted for her alleged crimes while in Ethiopia because of her diplomatic immunity. She was only detained for her own safety.
However, moments after she made her first appearance in the lower court, her lawyer Kadhila Amoomo launched an urgent application in the High Court, citing that the arrest and continued detention of Amutenya was unlawful.
In her affidavit, she is claiming she has not been furnished with any documentation explaining why she was immediately arrested upon her arrival at the Hosea Kutako International Airport on Monday and consequently detained at Klein Windhoek police station.
There is also no explanation why she was required to make an appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
She is further claiming she has not been presented with any documents or notices explaining her deportation from Ethiopia.
Speaking in parliament yesterday, minister of international relations Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said all the necessary arrangements were made to have Amutenya back in Namibia.
“All the statements were handed over to the Namibian police who then took charge of the person at the airport. But finally, we were informed that the charges have been withdrawn. Thus, I leave the case. As I said, it is complicated and let the Namibian law take its course,” explained Nandi-Ndaitwah.
- mamakali@nepc.com.na