Maria Amakali
A 43-year-old man currently serving a prison term of 60 years for gang-raping a woman more than a decade ago, is considering withdrawing the matter in which he is fighting for his police docket.
Michael Gawiseb’s new lawyer Francois Bangamwabo informed High Court Judge Shafimana Ueitele that he will consult Gawiseb, and will possibly withdraw the matter at hand.
Bangamwabo and Jurie Ludwig, the lawyer of safety and security minister Albert Kawana and police commander of Otjozondjupa, Heinrich Tjiveze, agreed that the current application is unwarranted as Gawiseb has an ongoing appeal in the High Court. The two proposed to the court that Gawiseb’s lawyer Jermaine Muchali, who is representing him in the appeal matter, should request for the said docket and if he is unsuccessful, he may then approach the High Court. The court postponed the matter to 22 March for Bangamwabo to further consult Gawiseb.
Gawiseb is seeking a court order that would compel Kawana and Tjiveze to provide him with his full police docket. In the documents filed before court, Gawiseb claims he has made several attempts to obtain the docket, but to no avail. It is his argument that he needs his docket to prepare as he intends appealing his conviction.Gawiseb claims Kawana and Tjiveze have defied a court order issued by the Otjiwarongo Magistrate’s Court, directing them to furnish him with the docket.“There is no law in independent Namibia that prohibits the respondent from providing the disclosure to the applicant. Failure to provide it is tantamount to a miscarriage of justice, and indeed contrary to the constitution and rule of law,” submitted Gawiseb. In August 2018, Gawiseb was convicted in the Otjiwarongo Regional Court on four charges of rape, a count of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and a charge of assault by threat.
Consequently, the court ordered him to serve a custodial sentence of 60 years for his crimes.
Gawiseb was convicted alongside his co-accused, Moses Pieters (46), who is serving a 20-year sentence. They gang-raped a woman at Otavi during the early morning hours of 14 November 2010.
During their sentencing, the court noted that the pair planned the crimes that they committed, kept the victim captive for hours while they raped her repeatedly, and during their trial showed no remorse in court either. Gawiseb is currently serving his sentence at the Hardap Correctional Facility.