A Further delay of up to two years could be on the cards for the Fishrot fraud, corruption and racketeering trial, one of the accused in the matter, former attorney general and minister of justice Sacky Shanghala, has acknowledged.
Shanghala's acknowledgement emerged during an exchange with acting judge Marilize du Plessis in the High Court at Windhoek Correctional Facility, where the 10 men charged in the Fishrot case about the alleged corrupt use of Namibian fish quotas made their latest court appearance on Tuesday.
Shanghala agreed with Du Plessis's assessment that an application he and three co-accused in the case filed in the High Court nearly three weeks ago could take at least 18 months to two years to be decided in that court and in the Supreme Court afterwards.
During the court proceedings, Du Plessis reminded the accused, defence lawyers and prosecutors that the criminal matter is set down on the court roll for trial from Monday next week to the end of the week.
Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn
However, Shanghala said the trial cannot proceed before the application that he, James Hatuikulipi, Otneel Shuudifonya and Pius Mwatelulo filed on 7 November has been decided.
"You cannot proceed on the first [of December]," Shanghala said. "But if you want to proceed on the first, you will do so in my absence."
He also said: "You cannot continue while we are saying the very evidence that will be led is based on illegalities."
In the application that is pending in the High Court, Shanghala, Hatuikulipi, Shuudifonya and Mwatelulo are asking the court to make wide-ranging orders to set aside investigations carried out in their criminal case.
Shuudifonya also informed Du Plessis on Tuesday that he is currently without legal representation and is waiting to hear from the Directorate of Legal Aid if he has been granted legal aid again.
Shuudifonya and another of the accused, former National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor) chief executive Mike Nghipunya, terminated the mandate of defence lawyer Milton Engelbrecht, who represented them, in October.
Defence lawyer Veiko Alexander was in court on Tuesday as Nghipunya's new legal representative. Alexander said he will not be able to proceed with the trial on 1 December.
Lawyer Manuel Kazondana, who stood in for defence lawyer Florian Beukes, representing former fisheries and marine resources minister Bernhard Esau, said Beukes will also not be ready by 1 December. According to Beukes, he would be ready around 20 January, Kazondana said.
Defence lawyer Petrus Elago, representing Ricardo Gustavo, said he is about 60% through studying the copy of the docket disclosed to him. He added that he could not confirm he would be ready for the trial to proceed at the start of next week.
Du Plessis noted that there was no substantive application for a postponement of the matter before the court. She postponed the case to 1 December for trial, and said if any party wants to request a postponement beyond that date they should do so through a substantiated application.
In their application filed on 7 November, Shanghala, Hatuikulipi, Shuudifonya, Mwatelulo and seven close corporations, three trusts and a company controlled by them and also charged in their criminal case are asking the court to restrain the prosecutor general from continuing to prosecute them until the civil application that they filed has been decided.
They are also applying for an interdict permanently stopping their prosecution in the Fishrot case "based on any evidential information obtained and gathered from the unconstitutional, unlawful, unprocedural and ultra vires investigations" allegedly conducted by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The ACC's investigations were done contrary to provisions of Namibia's Constitution, the Anti-Corruption Act, the Prevention of Organised Crime Act and the International Cooperation in Criminal Matters Act, they are claiming.
They are also requesting the court to make a wide range of declarations and to review and set aside numerous actions taken during the investigation of the Fishrot case.
Shanghala, Hatuikulipi, Mwatelulo, Esau, Gustavo and Esau's son-in-law Tamson Hatuikulipi have been held in custody since being arrested on 27 November 2019.
The Namibian uses AI tools to assist with improved quality, accuracy and efficiency, while maintaining editorial oversight and journalistic integrity.
