Cop linked to suspicious ‘withdrawal’ of rape, human-trafficking case

Amid an ongoing corruption case, claims have emerged against police officer Jafet Simon concerning an allegedly forged withdrawal statement from a rape and human-trafficking victim.

This revelation is part of a now concluded matter involving a minor in a rape and human-trafficking case stemming from 2018, which implicated a Pakistani national, Farhan Khatri – a “friend” of Simon.

Simon is now being accused of bribing Swakopmund regional prosecutor Tresia Hafeni with N$60 000 to get the Pakistani’s passport back for him, and to ensure that the matter against him is withdrawn.

According to Frieda Kanyama, a senior Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigator in Erongo, who testified in the Swakopmund Regional Court last week, the handling of withdrawal statements by Simon raised questions about his involvement, as he was not the investigating officer on the case.

“Simon showed [prosecutor Tresia Hafeni] a copy of the statement on his phone, while he was not the investigating officer in the case, making his possession of such a statement suspicious,” Kanyama stated.

She further disclosed that the victim was allegedly coerced into a relationship with a third suspect, who has not yet been arrested.

“Evidence suggests that this third individual was purposefully enlisted to convince the victim they were in a relationship, potentially to facilitate her signing the withdrawal statement,” Kanyama told the court.

After the investigation, it came to light that after an “affair” between the victim and the third suspect (whose name is known to this newspaper), she signed the withdrawal form.

Soon afterwards, Hafeni was requested to interfere with Khatri’s case, and she found the withdrawal statement pushed under her office door at the Swakopmund Regional Court.

At a later stage, Simon even told Hafeni that the victim was no longer interested in the case and would not continue pressing charges – he showed her the copy of the withdrawal statement (the same that was pushed under her door) on his phone.

MTC records later obtained during the investigation revealed that Simon had two copies of the withdrawal statement on this phone – one signed, and the other not. The records also showed communication between him and the victim, as well as the third suspect. Communication with Khatri and Hafeni were also recorded.

Hafeni ‘played’ along with support from the ACC, which led to the arrest of both Simon and Khatri after a sting operation in 2020.

Meantime, Khatri was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for human trafficking and rape, and to 20 months in prison for corruption.

Simon is represented by Albert Titus, while the state is represented by Beate Mwahi. Magistrate Vicky Nicolaides presided over the matter. The case was postponed to August.