Lawful assist holds up diamond theft trial

TWO former mining organization staff members billed with the theft of diamonds worthy of extra than N$6 million on a De Beers Maritime Namibia ship are nonetheless without the need of lawful help for their demo, which is due to choose area in the Windhoek Substantial Court.

The two men – Emmanuel Shikololo (47) and Rodney Klim (47) – knowledgeable judge Christie Liebenberg during a pretrial appearance in the Higher Court yesterday that the Directorate of Authorized Help has not provided them with authorized representation still.

Klim said he has been asked to make a contribution of N$350 in advance of authorized assist would be offered to him, although Shikololo reported the directorate has so much only acknowledged that it obtained an software for legal support from him at the conclude of very last week.

Shikololo and Klim are billed with the theft of unpolished diamonds, alternatively possession of unpolished diamonds, and conspiring to steal diamonds.

The point out is alleging that even though each of them have been used by De Beers Maritime Namibia, they planned for the duration of the time period from September to November 2011 to steal diamonds from a mining vessel of the enterprise, the Debmar Atlantic.

It is also alleged that Shikololo and Klim tried out to require a protection officer of the company in their approach.

The theft was allegedly carried out on 6 November 2011, after the two accused experienced allegedly blocked element of a vacuum technique on the mining ship and Shikololo entered the diamond recovery plant of the vessel under the guise of acquiring to vacant a pipe.

Getting picked up 453 diamonds, weighing 668 carats and valued at about N$6,2 million, Shikololo allegedly identified as the stability officer he and Klim had been working with and handed a bag that contains the diamonds to him, as element of their approach was that the officer was to smuggle the gemstones off the ship and provide it to a buyer in Cape City.

Nonetheless, Shikololo experienced been kept underneath surveillance by safety personnel on the ship and was apprehended after he experienced supplied the bag with diamonds to the security officer, it is mentioned in the prosecution’s indictment.

With Shikololo and Klim even now waiting for legal illustration, their case was yesterday postponed to 18 February, when they have to show up at their up coming pretrial hearing in the Substantial Courtroom.

They are cost-free on a warning from the court docket.