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Namibia: Cocaine Suspects Fail With Acquittal Bid

WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.

Original Post Date: 2010-06-08 Time: 12:00:15  Posted By: News Poster

By Werner Menges

THE legal burden carried by the two Angolans facing charges of dealing in a Namibian record quantity of cocaine at Keetmanshoop between the end of 2007 and September 2008 lightened by some 9 kilograms last week.

In a trial that started before Judge Collins Parker in the High Court in Windhoek on February 2, Angolans Daniel João Paulo (43) and Josué Manuel Antonio (44) were each charged with three counts of dealing in cocaine, alternatively possession of the drug.

In a ruling given by Judge Parker on Monday last week, the two men were discharged on two of the counts they faced. On the remaining charge, Judge Parker found that the prosecution has presented “ample credible evidence” to show that Paulo and Antonio committed the offence referred to in that charge. The trial of the two men is now scheduled to continue from August 2.

Judge Parker’s ruling followed on an application from defence counsel Percy McNally for the discharge of the two men at the close of the prosecution’s case. McNally argued that the prosecution has not managed to prove that the two men were in possession of the cocaine over which they were charged when they were arrested on December 20 2007. His argument was that it had not been proven that they knew there was cocaine hidden in their vehicle when they were arrested.

Paulo and Antonio were arrested after 30,1 kg of alleged cocaine was found hidden in a compartment under the Toyota Land Cruiser in which they were travelling when they were stopped at a Police roadblock outside Keetmanshoop. The cocaine is alleged to have a Namibian street market value of N$15,5 million, and is the largest single quantity of cocaine to have been confiscated in Namibia to date.

The charge in connection with that find remains standing against the two men.

The two counts on which Judge Parker has now discharged them flowed from a subsequent discovery of another 9,25 kg of alleged cocaine that was found hidden in a spare wheel of the vehicle on September 30 2008.

Based on that find, they were also charged with a count of dealing in or possessing 9,23 kg of cocaine, valued at N$4,625 million, and a count of dealing in or possessing a combined total of 39,35 kg of cocaine, valued at N$20,125 million. These are the two charges that have fallen away as a result of Judge Parker’s ruling.

In the ruling, Judge Parker stated that if a person is in possession of a vehicle, the possession of that vehicle leads to a strong inference that the person is also in possession of the vehicle’s contents.

He stated: “For, a person takes over a motor vehicle or other means of conveyance at risk as to its contents being unlawful, if such a person does not immediately examine it.”

He found that the prosecution has proven that Paulo and Antonio were in joint possession of the vehicle under which the alleged cocaine was found hidden on December 20 2007. In terms of the law under which they are charged, it is presumed that they had dealt in this 30,1 kg of cocaine, unless they can prove otherwise, he noted.

By the time more alleged cocaine was found in the vehicle’s spare wheel, however, the vehicle had been under lock and key and in the custody of the Namibian Police at Keetmanshoop for more than nine months. Judge Parker found that the State did not prove that at that stage the vehicle was still in the two charged men’s possession – with the result that it has also not been proven that they were in possession of or dealt in the cocaine found in the spare wheel.

McNally has so far during the trial indicated that according to Paulo and Antonio they were driving the vehicle on behalf of its owner from Angola to Upington in South Africa, and that they were oblivious as to its hidden illegal contents.

Paulo and Antonio would have to choose whether to testify in their own defence or to remain silent when the trial continues. They have remained in custody since their arrest.

Deputy Prosecutor General Johnny Truter is prosecuting.

Original Source: The Namibian (Windhoek)
Original date published: 7 June 2010

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201006080572.html?viewall=1