Likoro’s rape appeal fails

Swapo Think Tank member Vincent Likoro’s Supreme Court appeal to have his rape conviction overturned failed yesterday, with three Supreme Court judges arguing he failed to follow correct procedures. The ruling highlighted that “it does not help the appellant to evade responsibility and pass the buck” and that the court cannot close its eyes to material irregularities, which include misleading the court when he applied for leave to appeal. The court ordered that the notice of appeal filed by Likoro on 23 April 2018 with the Registrar of the Supreme Court constitutes an irregularity, and is reviewed and set aside.It also ordered that the proceedings heard on 14 October 2019 be struck from the roll.Chose not to discloseAccording to the Supreme Court, Likoro’s legal practitioners chose not to disclose all background facts regarding a substantive irregularity and - had they made the disclosure - there can be no doubt that the court would not have proceeded to hear arguments. “The correct route the appellant should have followed subsequent to the refusal of his condonation application and striking the matter from the roll was to appeal directly to the Supreme Court and, in the event of his failure to comply with the provisions of the rules and the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act, to have launched a condonation application in the Supreme Court, a route still open to the appellant.”Likoro, who was convicted and sentenced in the Katima Mulilo Regional Court in 2016, has been out on N$40 000 bail since April 2018.He declined to comment on the outcome of the matter. jemima@namibiansun.com

Likoro’s rape appeal fails

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Namibian Sun 2022-07-06

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Likoro’s rape appeal fails

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Namibian Sun 2022-07-06

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