No recall of witnesses in Walvis Bay house robbery trial

Three police officers who testified during the trial of five men accused of carrying out a fatal house robbery at Walvis Bay in June 2016 will not be called back to court to be cross-examined again, a judge ruled in the Windhoek High Court yesterday.

Judge Dinnah Usiku made the ruling on an application by one of the five accused on trial before her, Panduleni Gotlieb, to have three state witnesses recalled to be cross-examined again on his behalf.

Gotlieb’s current defence lawyer, Mbanga Siyomunji, asked to have the witnesses recalled on Monday. He argued that the police officers were key witnesses in the matter before Usiku and that certain instructions from Gotlieb were not put to them when they testified previously.

In her ruling, Usiku recounted that the case was delayed on numerous occasions – in several instances because of difficulties in Gotlieb’s relationships with previous defence lawyers – before the five accused eventually in November 2021 gave their pleas on the charges they are facing.

Usiku also noted that Siyomunji is the sixth defence lawyer to represent Gotlieb since the case was allocated to her in 2018, and remarked that Gotlieb has been responsible for several postponements that have hindered the smooth running of the trial.

When the three witnesses testified during the trial, Gotlieb had legal representation, the witnesses were cross-examined and he did not raise any objections about that cross-examination, the judge also observed.

She said Gotlieb had ample time to ask for the witnesses to be recalled before the state concluded its case in November last year, and remarked that Gotlieb could not at this stage complain that his right to a fair trial has been infringed on.

The right to a fair trial should not be to the exclusive benefit of Gotlieb, as a trial should also be fair to the alleged victims of a crime and to society, Usiku said.

Gotlieb (37) and four co-accused – David Tashiya (36), David Shekundja (41), Elly Ndapuka Hinaivali (36) and Malakia Shiweda (35) – are standing trial on charges of murder, attempted murder, housebreaking and robbery with aggravating circumstances, conspiring to commit housebreaking and armed robbery, and possession of a firearm and ammunition without a licence. They have denied guilt on all counts.

All of the charges are linked to a burglary and armed robbery during which Walvis Bay businessman Hans-Jörg Möller was shot in the abdomen in his home at Walvis Bay during the night of 16 to 17 June 2016. Möller (50) died in a hospital a day after the robbery.

The state is alleging that goods valued at about N$175 000 were stolen from Möller’s house during the robbery.

The stolen items included cellphones, a laptop computer, jewellery and cash, including foreign currency in an unknown amount, the state is alleging.

Usiku ended her ruling yesterday by directing that the the defence’s case in the trial should proceed.

The trial is due to continue today, with Gotlieb expected to indicate whether he will be testifying in his own defence.

All of the five accused are being held in custody.