Fishrot-accused former fisheries minister Bernard Esau together with son-in-law Tamson Hatuikulipi still have some fight left in them and will approach the Windhoek High Court regarding their bail application.The Windhoek Magistrate’s Court denied Esau and Hatuikulipi bail on 22 July 2020. Magistrate Duard Kesslau argued that the two have serious cases.
They are being charged together with former justice minister Sackey Shanghala, former Investec boss James Hatuikulipi, former Investec manager Ricardo Gustavo, Pius Mwatelulo and the suspended Fishcor CEO Mike Nghipunya.
All are facing several charges ranging from fraud to money laundering involving multi-million dollars in bribes allegedly paid by the Icelandic fishing company Samherji from 2014 until 2019.
Through their lawyer Richard Metcalfe, Esau and Hatuikulipi are arguing that Kessler could not have denied them bail while there are other people implicated in the Fishrot scandal who are still free.
Esau and Hatuikulipi did not testify in court, something which Kessler said raised a lot of questions. The two, however, are arguing that by making such a ruling, the magistrate assumed the powers of the prosecutor.
They also say that Kessler did not follow the court proceedings to comprehend the facts resulting in him making wrong conclusions.
In addition, Esau and Hatuikulipi say that Kessler did not consider State witnesses accounts and chose evidence that had not been provided in court.
Another argument is that Kessler wrongly concluded that Esau and Hatuikulipi are guilty before a fair trial and that the magistrate got it wrong when he said the accused decided to apply for bail using affidavits to avoid cross-examination.
They further said that Kessler did not provide proof that by denying them bail he was acting in the interest of the public and that he could not back up the fact that some people had demonstrated at the court.
According to Esau and Hatuikulipi, Kessler got it wrong by saying that the public had lost confidence with the justice system and that denying them bail was justified in the administration of justice.
They say that what Kessler said could not be regarded as the administration of justice when there are others implicated in the same crime who have not been arrested.
