The accused in the Fishrot fraud, corruption and racketeering trial who are without legal representation have been urged to apply for state-funded legal aid.
Acting judge Moses Chinhengo gave the unrepresented accused in the Fishrot case this advice after plea proceedings were concluded before him in the High Court at Windhoek Correctional Facility on Friday.
“I would want to urge the accused persons to try and obtain legal representation,” Chinhengo said in closing remarks before the court was adjourned until early in the new year.
He urged the accused to follow the approach taken in the main Caprivi high treason case in 2001, when the men charged in that matter applied to the High Court for an order that compelled the Directorate of Legal Aid in the Ministry of Justice to instruct lawyers to represent them during their trial.
One of the accused in the Fishrot trial, former attorney general and minister of justice Sacky Shanghala, told the judge on Friday that he and other accused without legal representation intend to apply for a court order to be provided state-funded legal aid.
The accused not represented by defence lawyers currently are Shanghala, former minister of fisheries and marine resources Bernhard Esau, James Hatuikulipi, Ricardo Gustavo and Pius Mwatelulo.
“I would want a situation where accused persons are legally represented, whether by their own lawyers whom they pay or by state-appointed lawyers.
At least that will ensure some modicum of proper administration of justice,” Chinhengo said before the adjournment.
The charges the accused are facing will not be going away, Chinhengo indicated as well.
“When a person is accused of an offence, that matter must be determined,” he said. “It may take long, but ultimately, if the state has preferred charges against you, you have to come and answer.”
Chinhengo said this after the taking of pleas in the first stage of the trial was concluded on Friday afternoon.
The plea proceedings resumed on Wednesday, after a year-long delay that followed on an application for Chinhengo’s recusal from the trial and subsequent applications by some of the accused that continued to keep the trial stalled.
Chinhengo recorded pleas of not guilty by all of the accused on all 42 charges they are facing.
Five of the accused – Esau, his son-in-law Tamson Hatuikulipi, former National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor) chief executive Mike Nghipunya, Otneel Shuudifonya and Phillipus Mwapopi – pleaded not guilty on the charges deputy prosecutors general Cliff Lutibezi and Ed Marondedze put to them.
Chinhengo recorded pleas of not guilty on behalf of the other accused – Shanghala, James Hatuikulipi, Gustavo, Mwatelulo and Nigel van Wyk – after they did not give their pleas to the charges.
Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo said they were pleading that the court does not have the required jurisdiction to try them, as they are challenging the lawfulness of Chinhengo’s appointment as an acting judge of the High Court of Namibia.
Gustavo said he was unable to plead without legal representation, and Van Wyk said he was unable to plead in the absence of his defence lawyer, Mbanga Siyomunji, who was not present in court.
The charges are based on allegations that the accused were involved in a scheme to unlawfully get access to Namibian fishing quotas that were supposed to have been allocated for ‘governmental objectives’.
The state is alleging that the quotas from which the accused benefited unlawfully included horse mackerel quotas totalling 50 000 tonnes, with a market value of about N$150 million, allocated to the company Namgomar Pesca Namibia between 2014 and 2019.
The state is also alleging that they unlawfully benefited from quotas allocated to the state-owned Fishcor, from which the accused allegedly received about N$82 million.
Chinhengo has directed the state, the accused and defence lawyers involved in the trial to try to agree on dates when the trial can proceed.
That should not be later than 4 February, he has ordered as well.
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