2013-10-22Staff Report 2 WINDHOEK - The matter in which 65 men face treason charges will proceed on November 04 in the Prison Court, with one of the defence lawyers expected to call witnesses. After the State closed its case on February 07, 2012, the lawyers for 81 accused secessionists lodged an urgent application for their discharge, since, according to them, there was no evidence against their clients. According to the law the accused can be discharged at the end of the prosecution’s case if there is no evidence before the court that the accused committed the offences they are charged with. Another 65 defendants remain in custody, among them John Samboma, who is alleged to be the commander of the so-called Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA), and former DTA parliamentarian Geoffrey Mwilima. In February this year Judge Elton Hoff discharged 43 individuals who were suspected of being secessionists, saying the prosecution did not provide sufficient evidence against them. At the beginning of their trial in the High Court at Grootfontein in October 2003 all of the accused pleaded not guilty to all the charges. They were all said to have played a role in the bloody attacks on the Katima Mulilo Police Station and the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) regional office on August 02, 1999. The men are accused of taking part in a conspiracy to secede the Zambezi Region, formerly known as the Caprivi Region, from Namibia between 1992 and 2002. Deputy Prosecutor-Generals Herman January and Taswald July are representing the State in the protracted trial. The defence lawyers are Patrick Kauta, Greyson Nyoni, George Neves, Clive Kavendjii, Profysen Muluti, Jonathan Samukange, Victor Kachaka, Percy McNally, Hennie Kruger and Ilse Agenbach.
