By: Justicia Shipena
Prosecutor General Martha Imalwa says that she has no evidence to revoke the bail of Johan Meyer, who is accused of running over and killing 9-year-old Hendrina Amupolo on a farm in Mariental earlier this month.
According to her, she cannot bring an application without any evidence to justify why she is applying for the revocation of the accused’s bail.
“For the time being, as it currently stands, I cannot approach any court for the cancellation because I have no evidence on which ground I should apply for the revocation,” said Imalwa.
Imalwa said since Johan Meyer was released on bail, she has not received new information that he is interfering with witnesses or investigations.
“So far from the time the bail was granted in Mariental court, I have not received new information that this person is either interfering with investigations and witnesses or doing something contrary to the normal conditions of bail,” she said.
Meyer was granted bail of N$3000 by Mariental’s magistrate court earlier this month.
This resulted in the town community being unhappy and demanding that Meyer be rearrested.
Meyer allegedly chased and ran over Hendrina with his car after finding her and family members illegally picking beans in his field.
Imalwa argues that if one has been granted bail, whether conditions are attached or not, bail can be revoked only when there is new information.
“Which indicates that although this person is on bail, this is what this person is doing.”
This comes as the PG removed the state prosecutors from Meyer’s case. In a letter on Friday, the prosecutor general said the Mariental’s public prosecutors would not be handling the case any longer.
“For the interest of justice for the people to ensure that their cases are dealt with properly, and within the lines of justice without any influence, I decided that the case should be handled from my office in Windhoek. Therefore, the prosecutors in Mariental who have been working with Anita Meyer, the accused person’s wife, should be excused from handling the matter, including Anita herself,” she explained.
She added that her office in Windhoek would supervise the investigations.
“We are not hiding anything. We want transparency, which is our commitment,” she said.
Meanwhile, the late Hendrina’s father, Eliaser Amupolo, told The Villager that he was disappointed with how the case was handled.
He said it felt like this case was neglected even after life was lost.
“It was a good decision that was taken to remove prosecutors who were handling the case as the case seemed to have gone dormant,” he said.
He expressed that he does not have any faith that Meyer will get rearrested.
“I will only believe when I see Meyer in the hands of the police.”
Previously, he said his daughter howled for help after being injured in a field on a farm at Mariental.
Eliaser Amupolo said his daughter was on the ground in pain when he arrived at the scene.
Earlier this month, Imwala had sent a team to investigate whether the prosecutors had acted outside the scope of their duties in not objecting to bail.
She told The Villager that the internal investigation was based on the allegations of her staff’s involvement in Mariental to determine whether the prosectors did something uncalled for and not in line with their duties.
“The removal of the prosectors on the matter has nothing to do with the internal investigations,” said Imalwa.
At that time, she said the Mariental residents’ outcry prompted the investigation.
She had also said the deputy prosecutor general, Anita Meyer, assigned to Mariental, was on sick leave when her husband briefly appeared in the Magistrate’s court on a culpable homicide charge.
Imalwa had also revealed that upon learning that her husband had allegedly committed the act and was due to appear in court, Anita, who is conflicted, wrote a letter regarding possible conflict of interest, and that she be excused from dealing in any way with the case.
Furthermore, Imalwa had said prosecutors are officers of the court and have to be alive to the matters they are handed.
She added that it is not unique in terms of bail.
“It is not unique to suggest the amount of bail,” she said.
The late Hendrina’s mother, Anne Marie !Auchamus (34) had expressed that she and her three children went to look for beans to cook for lunch when Johan spotted them.
She said he drove the vehicle slow at first and started chasing her nephew. He reportedly started pursuing them and drove towards her daughter, and she tripped.
Human rights lawyer Norman Tjombe is filing a lawsuit against Johan. The prosecutor in the matter and investigators will also be respondents in the case.
Furthermore, Mariental community activist Wilhelmina Malapi had said the community of Mariental is not happy with the way the culprit chased the child, which led to the child’s death.
She had stated that the Mariental community is angry that Meyer was released on N$3 000 bail, and they cannot accept that.
