Staff Reporter
THE office of the Prosecutor general has approached the High Court of Namibia seeking for permission to appeal a decision by the Windhoek Regional Court Magistrate Cosmos Endjala, who previously acquitted the accused persons; Sem Jafet, Eunice Nakapunda and Mark Beaukes, of fraud charges levelled against them.
The three persons were charged with fraud and alternatively theft after they were accused of having illegally obtained money from church coffers.
During their trail in the lower court, Magistrates Endjala acquitted them of all the charges and discharged their case in terms of section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1977 as amended.
Section 174 states that an accused person is entitled to a discharge if there is no evidence against him that could lead to his or her conviction of the charges in question.
The lower court, in its judgement, stated that the state had failed to establish a case of fraud in respect of the three accused persons and pointed out that the evidence provided revealed that all money was spent on church related activities.
In its application for a leave to appeal, the prosecutorial authority argued that when the lower court found all the accused persons not guilty and discharged them in terms of the section, the lower court misconstrued the legal principles applicable and relevant to the determination of the applications in terms of section 174.
They further submitted to court that they the lower court ignored their evidence of misrepresentation, which in their view constitutes fraud, on the basis that Jafet had illegally obtained money from the church coffer, with the assistance of his two co-accused persons.
Insofar as the application for leave to appeal is concerned, the High court reserved its judgement on 13 September 2022, where it will pronounce itself on whether or not the state meets the requirement to appeal.
