John Grobler
29 April 2008
Windhoek — NO trial date has yet been set for Victor Shikwambi, 23, held on murder and robbery charges in a Beijing jail since June last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said recently.
Permanent Secretary Veiccoh Nghiwete said he was not sure whether Namibian Embassy officials had been able to visit Shikwambi, who was staying with his uncle, retired diplomat Dr Sackey Shikwambi, at the time of this arrest.
"Some of our local Embassy officials were supposed to have gone to see him, but I have not been advised on whether that has happened," Nghiwete said.
Shikwambi and a Zambian friend, believed also to be a diplomat's son, were arrested in connection with the death of a young Russian woman, who died from suffocation after being robbed of her laptop computer and cellphone, the Ministry said last year.
Both made a preliminary appearance in a Chinese court late last year, but it was unclear when the case would go ahead, Nghiwete said.
The Ministry still did not know what specific charges Shikwambi faced.
China, which follows a very hard line on crime, currently ranks as the country where more people than anywhere else in the world are executed for violent crimes.
According to Amnesty International, at least 3 000 people were executed there in 2006.
Crimes such as those that Shikwambi is charged with are regularly punished by death, usually by firing squad.
No diplomatic immunity has been invoked in Shikwambi's case yet, but the Ministry hoped to convince the Chinese court to allow him to serve his sentence in Namibia if convicted, the Ministry previously said.
Meanwhile, Nghiwete says he is unaware of any Namibians held in Singapore, but has launched enquiries via the Singaporean High Commissioner in South Africa in this regard.
An anonymous caller last week alleged that two Namibian women, both in their late 20s, were arrested in Singapore either late last year or early this year after they were caught transporting drugs.
One was previously employed at a local magazine, the caller said.
The editor of said magazine could not be reached for comment.
Drug smuggling is punishable by the death sentence in Singapore.
"I have asked the (Singapore) High Commissioner to look into the matter for us," Nhgiwete said.
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