Het Namibische gerecht heeft maandag de zaak tegen een corrupte politieman uitgesteld tot in september. De 37-jarige Piet van Staden uit Walvisbaai staat terecht op beschuldiging van het vervalsen van een getuigenis in de Harry Simon zaak. Dat is de bokskampioen die in dronken toestand toeristen uit Knokke-Heist doodreed en verwondde. De politieman paste een getuigenis aan in het nadeel van onze landgenoten. In hoeverre deze zaak het vonnis in Beroep van Harry Simon nog zal beïnvloeden is niet bekend. Police bribery trial moved to September
THE trial of Piet van Staden (37), the suspended Walvis Bay Policeman accused of alleged corruption and forgery, has been held over till September 19 to 21. One of the cases relates to the fatal 2002 accident in which boxer Harry Simon was involved. The charges against Van Staden include bribery, alternatively corruption, obstruction of justice, forgery and uttering, which relate to two separate incidents between 2003 and 2006. In the first incident, the policeman is accused of allegedly forging the statement of a witness who was at the scene of the fatal accident in November 2002 involving Namibian boxer Harry Simon and a group of Belgian tourists. Three of the tourists - two adults and a baby - were killed in the accident. It is alleged that Van Staden tampered with the original statement after it was made by the witness. A forensic examination of the statement allegedly found discrepancies in the original document, suggesting that it might have been tampered with. The other case involves an incident that took place in 2004, when a Walvis Bay resident, Manfred Stauder, was charged with drunken driving. Stauder allegedly offered a N$4 800 payment to Van Staden to withhold the blood test results in the case. Van Staden allegedly accepted the bribe and withheld the results, obstructing the course of justice. The two cases against Van Staden were joined, according to State Prosecutor Hermiena Apollus. Van Staden is still suspended from service and his future in the Police force depends on the outcome of the trial in September.
