Prosecutor general Martha Imalwa says the Fishrot case about the alleged corrupt use of Namibian fishing quotas is not complex and the accused in the matter can stand trial without legal representation if they want to do that.
Imalwa made this remark while addressing acting judge Moses Chinhengo on the situation regarding the lack of legal representation of some of the accused in the case yesterday.
Four of the accused – former attorney general and minister of justice Sacky Shanghala, his business partner James Hatuikulipi, Ricardo Gustavo and Pius Mwatelulo – are currently not represented by defence lawyers in their criminal case that is pending before Chinhengo.
The lawyer representing another of the accused, former minister of fisheries and marine resources Bernhard Esau, has informed the court that Esau has not been able to pay him for his services, and has not been attending recent court appearances of his client.
Imalwa attended the latest appearance of the 10 individuals charged in the Fishrot case in the High Court at Windhoek Correctional Facility yesterday.
Chinhengo has previously been told that the four unrepresented accused and Esau do not have access to their assets, which have been placed under a Prevention of Organised Crime Act restraint order, to raise funds to pay for legal representation.
So far, none of them has asked the High Court to order that state-funded legal aid should be provided to them.
During the previous court appearance of the accused two weeks ago, Chinhengo asked deputy prosecutor general Ed Marondedze if the state could agree to allow the unrepresented accused to get access to funds in their restrained assets to pay their legal expenses.
Marondedze told the judge yesterday that while Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo are without legal representation in their criminal case, they have been represented by lawyers, including a South African senior counsel, in civil cases in the High Court.
Marondedze said the state is aware of about N$4 million that was in an investment account and was withdrawn from that account to pay for the legal representation of Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo.
Imalwa said she had a meeting with the unrepresented accused in prison last year in an attempt to establish what the problems are regarding them getting legal representation, but after she received court documents notifying her of legal action they are taking against her, she had not again engaged them on the issue.
Asked by Chinhengo if she shared the view that all of the accused in the case should be legally represented for the case to be handled properly, Imalwa said she has experienced matters in which persons were not legally represented and handled their cases better than admitted legal practitioners would do.
Imalwa added: “I’m also familiar with the facts of this case, and looking at the content of the information in the docket, to me this case is not complex. It’s a case which depends on documentary evidence, and therefore in my view if an accused person doesn’t want to be represented, the accused is capable or able to represent himself.”
She also remarked: “The accused persons who are alleging that they need legal expenses are the same people who don’t want to become truthful and honest and disclose the information to court.”
The court has been informed that the state and defence lawyers Milton Engelbrecht and Mbanga Siyomunji have agreed that the trial, in which plea proceedings were concluded in December last year, will proceed from 4 August.
Chinhengo remarked yesterday: “August the fourth is a date beyond which I don’t think we can go without commencing the trial. It is unfair to the accused persons who are in custody, it is unfair to those accused persons who are ready to proceed, it is unfair to the whole judicial system, and the state.”
He ordered that the trial should proceed on 4 August, and the prosecution and defence should before then consult each other to ensure that all obstacles in the way be resolved as far as possible.
Six of the 10 individual accused have been held in custody for more than five years since being arrested near the end of November 2019.
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