Justice, judiciary EDs must report on Fishrot courtroom

The executive directors (EDs) of the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations and the Office of the Judiciary should report to the High Court on actions they have taken to prepare a courtroom for the Fishrot fraud, corruption and racketeering trial.

This was ordered by deputy judge president Shafimana Ueitele in a judgement delivered in the Windhoek High Court on Friday.

Ueitele dismissed an application by three of the men accused in the Fishrot case – former attorney general and minister of justice Sacky Shanghala, James Hatuikulipi and Pius Mwatelulo – who were asking the court to issue an interdict that would stop the prosecutor general from continuing to prosecute them in the courtroom where proceedings in their criminal case have been taking place since September 2023.

The three accused were asking the court to declare that the requirements for a fair trial cannot be met if their trial takes place in the courtroom on the grounds of Windhoek Correctional Facility where the dock for accused persons was previously enclosed by a metal grille that they described as a “burglar bar cage”.

They further wanted the court to direct the Office of the Judiciary to remove the metal grille they complained about and to provide tables, chairs with backrests, Wi-Fi internet access, a lectern and electric points that they can use for their laptop computers in the courtroom.

Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo also asked the court to declare that the taking of photographs and video recordings showing them in the grille-enclosed dock is a violation of their rights to dignity and a fair trial.

The metal grille that enclosed the dock in the courtroom where proceedings in the Fishrot case have been taking place before acting judge Moses Chinhengo was removed shortly after Shanghala and his co-applicants filed their application about the courtroom facilities in September last year.

According to Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo, their continued prosecution in the courtroom at Windhoek Correctional Facility would violate their dignity, their right to a fair trial and their right to be presumed innocent, as the metal grille created the impression that they are dangerous persons against whom the court and general public had to be protected, Ueitele noted in his judgement.

Ueitele also noted that the issues they wanted the court to deal with in the order they applied for have been addressed by the Office of the Judiciary’s deputy executive director, Innocent Kandandu, in a sworn statement filed at the court. Kandandu informed the court that the metal grille the three accused were complaining about has been removed, electrical points are available in the courtroom to be used for the Fishrot trial, the accused have Wi-Fi access at the prison to enable them to prepare for their trial, and the process to make physical alterations to the courtroom to address other complaints by the accused has started.

In his judgement, Ueitele said the undertakings made by Kandandu in his affidavit have addressed the complaints of Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo.

“There are, therefore, no live issues in respect of the architectural design of the courtroom for this court to adjudicate on,” he said.

He ordered that the undertakings must be carried out by the EDs of the justice ministry and the Office of the Judiciary, and the two EDs should provide a report to the court by 5 September on the action they have taken.

Chinhengo ordered in February that the Fishrot trial must proceed from 4 August.

Plea proceedings in the trial were concluded in December last year, with Chinhengo recording pleads of not guilty for all of the accused on all of the 42 charges they are facing.