Staff Reporter
JACO Kennedy, a former magistrate, who is currently on trial in the Windhoek High Court for charges including rape and kidnapping, will remain in custody following his third unsuccessful attempt to secure bail during the ongoing trial.
In a High Court ruling, Judge Marlene Tommasi determined that it would not serve the public’s best interests or the cause of justice to grant bail to former magistrate Kennedy.
While Judge Tommasi acknowledged that she felt empathy for the predicament of Kennedy’s wife and children as a result of his imprisonment, she however, emphasized her responsibility to weigh his interests against the principles of justice administration.
The 36-year-old has been held in detention since January 2016, following his arrest on a second charge of rape within a 13-month period. He denied guilt on ten charges, consisting of five counts of rape, two charges of kidnapping, a count of attempted murder, and two charges of attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice.
The state contends that on December 31, 2015, Kennedy committed the crimes of rape and kidnapping against another woman in the city. This occurred after he and his friend Cloete had been granted bail following their initial rape charges. Subsequently, he made a bail application in 2016 after his second arrest, which was denied. He filed a second bail application in 2020, and most recently, he submitted another one that was heard a few months ago. However, all of his bail applications have been dismissed.
The court’s initial determination that a compelling prima facie case exists against Kennedy remains unchanged. This marks the second instance in which he has faced charges of this nature, according to the court’s findings.
Although it appears that Kennedy’s trial has been delayed for an extended period, with him being held in detention during this time, the court noted that the trial’s delays are primarily attributable to Kennedy’s numerous intervening applications rather than any fault on the part of the state.
One of Kennedy’s intervening applications included one in which he requested the court to declare two specific sections of the Criminal Procedure Act as unconstitutional. These sections currently permit vulnerable witnesses, like complainants in cases related to sexual offenses, to give their testimony from a separate room connected to the courtroom via closed-circuit television or a one-way mirror. This constitutional challenge is currently pending in the High Court.
He is schedule to appear again in court on 16 October for the continuation of his trial.
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