Fishrot: Gustavo's bail in jeopardy
"The High Court's decision was wrong and must be corrected."
These were the words of prosecutor Ed Marondedze yesterday in the Supreme Court during a State appeal against a High Court decision to grant Fishrot accused Ricardo Gustavo bail.
The appeal application was heard by a full bench in the Supreme Court in Windhoek.
Marondedze claimed that the State has a very strong case against Gustavo and that even during his bail application he could not answer to the various documents the State will rely on in its case.
"We threw facts at him and showed that we have strong evidence against him and his co-accused," he said.
Gustavo's legal representative, advocate Anton Katz, pointed out that a person should not be kept in custody pending punishment, and said the State's argument is therefore not relevant.
“Bail is not about guilt or innocence. The accused has proven that he is a good candidate for bail," he said.
New facts
Judge Herman Oosthuizen granted Gustavo bail of N$800 000 in December 2021.
This was Gustavo's second application for bail and was based on new facts after his original bail application was rejected. He appealed this decision in the Supreme Court and the appeal was also dismissed.
According to that judgment, the reasons were because it was not in the public interest or administration of justice to grant him bail.
Marondedze claimed the new facts did not have an influence on the essence of the original application and the reason why it was rejected.
"This does not change the fact that it is still not in the public interest or the administration of justice [to release Gustavo on bail]," he said.
No evidence
Katz, however, said there is no evidence that public interest was harmed when his client was granted bail.
"There might be a newspaper report, messages on WhatsApp groups and people saying things amongst each other. There is, however, nothing the public should be protected from."
Judges David Smuts, Elton Hoff and Sylvestor Mainga heard the case and indicated that they will notify the parties when the judgment is ready.
Gustavo is currently the only Fishrot defendant to be successful in his bail application. His co-accused remain in custody.
–[email protected]
These were the words of prosecutor Ed Marondedze yesterday in the Supreme Court during a State appeal against a High Court decision to grant Fishrot accused Ricardo Gustavo bail.
The appeal application was heard by a full bench in the Supreme Court in Windhoek.
Marondedze claimed that the State has a very strong case against Gustavo and that even during his bail application he could not answer to the various documents the State will rely on in its case.
"We threw facts at him and showed that we have strong evidence against him and his co-accused," he said.
Gustavo's legal representative, advocate Anton Katz, pointed out that a person should not be kept in custody pending punishment, and said the State's argument is therefore not relevant.
“Bail is not about guilt or innocence. The accused has proven that he is a good candidate for bail," he said.
New facts
Judge Herman Oosthuizen granted Gustavo bail of N$800 000 in December 2021.
This was Gustavo's second application for bail and was based on new facts after his original bail application was rejected. He appealed this decision in the Supreme Court and the appeal was also dismissed.
According to that judgment, the reasons were because it was not in the public interest or administration of justice to grant him bail.
Marondedze claimed the new facts did not have an influence on the essence of the original application and the reason why it was rejected.
"This does not change the fact that it is still not in the public interest or the administration of justice [to release Gustavo on bail]," he said.
No evidence
Katz, however, said there is no evidence that public interest was harmed when his client was granted bail.
"There might be a newspaper report, messages on WhatsApp groups and people saying things amongst each other. There is, however, nothing the public should be protected from."
Judges David Smuts, Elton Hoff and Sylvestor Mainga heard the case and indicated that they will notify the parties when the judgment is ready.
Gustavo is currently the only Fishrot defendant to be successful in his bail application. His co-accused remain in custody.
–[email protected]
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