ONE of the alleged key figures in the Fishrot fishing quotas fraud and corruption case, businessman Tamson 'Fitty' Hatuikulipi, wants to appeal to the Supreme Court against a ruling in which his second application to be granted bail was dismissed in the Windhoek High Court three weeks ago.
A notice that Hatuikulipi intends to apply for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court against acting judge David Munsu's decision to turn down his bail application was filed at the High Court on Monday.
In the notice, it is claimed that Munsu erred in several respects when he dismissed Hatuikulipi's application for bail based on new facts on 27 December.
It is claimed in the notice that Munsu made an error by finding the period of more than three years that Hatuikulipi has been held in pretrial custody since his arrest near the end of November 2019 did not constitute a new fact changing the facts on which he had been denied bail previously.
It is further argued that Munsu failed to balance the liberty of Hatuikulipi and the interests of the administration of justice, by over-emphasising the strength of the state's case against him and ignoring evidence showing the state's case not to be as strong as claimed.
By concluding that the seriousness of the charges against Hatuikulipi precluded the granting of bail to him, Munsu appeared to have reversed the principle that he is presumed innocent until proven guilty, to a presumption of guilt until proven innocent, it is also claimed in the notice.
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In a further argument in the notice, a derogatory attack is made on the Fishrot scandal whistleblower Jóhannes Stefánsson, who lifted the lid on the Icelandic fishing company group Samherji's alleged involvement in corruption in the Namibian fishing sector. Stefánsson is smeared as having been shown to be "a whoremonger, drug addict and criminal", rather than a "saviour on a mission of honesty and integrity".
Hatuikulipi (41), son-in-law of former minister of fisheries and marine resources Bernhard Esau, and nine co-accused - including Esau, former justice minister and attorney general Sacky Shanghala, a cousin of Hatuikulipi, James Hatuikulipi, and former National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor) chief executive Mike Nghipunya - are facing an array of charges in the High Court in connection with an alleged scheme to unlawfully exploit Namibian fishing quotas.
The state is charging that Hatuikulipi received financial benefits of more than $75 million from his alleged involvement in a scheme to divert income realised from fishing quotas supposedly allocated for "governmental objectives" to himself and co-accused in the Fishrot case.
It is stated in the notice filed on Monday that Munsu will be asked, on a date to be arranged with the court's registrar, to allow Hatuikulipi to appeal to the Supreme Court against his ruling on Hatuikulipi's application to be granted bail
