2016-01-21Staff Report 2 Ongwediva Forty-six-year-old Elago Festus who was arrested for theft in 2008 after he allegedly used a company’s petrol card to fuel his car claims he was unlawfully arrested. According to statements seen by New Era, Festus was accused of having fuelled a Fala vehicle with a capacity of 80 litres with fuel worth N$2 623.26. He was arrested on July 28, 2008 but his case was thrown out of court on March 13 2015, when the court pronounced him not guilty. He had been released on bail of N$200, a day after his arrest. Festus is furious that the unlawful arrest has caused him public humiliation and cost him dearly to an extent he had to sell his three taxis to generate money to go to court. “My name went in the papers for the wrong reasons and I also had to endure people pointing fingers at me. I want my name cleared and my money spent on court paid back to me,” said Festus. “During my hearing I had constantly requested that the service station owner, or even the petrol jockey, come and testify that I fuelled my car at their service station, but all that was not done,” said Festus. Festus said that what was strange about his arrest was that the vehicle in question was not even impounded for evidence. “I was asked to call someone to pick it up. Why would it be picked up if it had stolen fuel?” queried Festus. He appealed to the police to do thorough investigations before implicating the wrong people. According to Festus his so-called three co-accused allegedly used a petrol card which does not belong to them to fuel cars on July 26, 2008. According to documents N$6 000 was used to fuel cars. He said he was implicated in the case because he was with one of the suspects a day prior to his arrest. One of the suspects asked him to escort him to his home village Oshinyaadhila on July 27, 2008. “To my surprise the police called me on the 28th of July and when I went to the police station they only asked if I was with one of the suspects and they apprehended me. They took me to the house and asked for the car key, drove it to the station but they then also asked me to get someone to pick up the vehicle.” Commander of the police in Oshana, Commissioner Rauha Amwele said she could only comment on the matter after studying information obtained from the investigator, adding that the complainant can approach the police. Festus said that in the meantime he was seeking legal advice to ensure that justice is served. 2016-01-21Staff Report 2
