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TWO men sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment each yesterday after being convicted of smuggling a record quantity of cocaine into Namibia in mid-2018 are planning to appeal against their convictions.
Defence lawyer Sisa Namandje, who represented Walvis Bay residents Grant Noble (40) and Dinath Azhar (66) during their trial in the Windhoek High Court, confirmed yesterday that Noble and Azhar have given instructions for an appeal to be lodged against their convictions on a charge of dealing in a dangerous dependence-producing drug.
An application for leave to appeal against judge Orben Sibeya’s verdict in their trial will be filed “in the next few days”, Namandje stated.
Sibeya sentenced Noble and Azhar each to 12 years’ imprisonment, of which five years are suspended for a period of five years on condition that they are not convicted of dealing in a dangerous dependence-producing substance during the period of suspension.
The two men were sentenced seven weeks after Sibeya found them guilty on a charge of dealing in 412 kilogrammes of cocaine, with a local street-market value of about N$206 million.
The cocaine – the largest single quantity of the drug yet to have been confiscated in Namibia – was smuggled from Brazil to the harbour of Walvis Bay in a shipping container that was loaded with boxes of copy paper.
The consignment of drugs was intercepted by customs and excise officials at Walvis Bay.
Noble and Azhar were both arrested on 15 June 2018, after the drugs had been found hidden in a shipping container imported by a close corporation, Zeeki Trading, of which Noble was the sole member.
Noble has been in jail for the past four years and nearly four months.
Azhar was held in custody for about three years and three months following his arrest, before he was released on bail in September last year. His bail was cancelled when he and Noble were found guilty on 18 August.
Sibeya remarked during the sentencing that both accused persisted with claims of innocence during their trial.
After they were convicted, though, Noble instructed defence lawyer Mbushandje Ntinda to inform the court that he had remorse over the crime, Sibeya recounted.
The court was also informed that Noble was employed by a tobacco products company at Walvis Bay before his arrest. Azhar had previously been a businessman, but has lost most of his assets in later years, the court was also told.
Sibeya noted that cocaine is classified as a dangerous drug. He added that drug dealers are unscrupulous criminals and that the courts have a duty to protect society against them.
Considering that Noble and Azhar were found to have imported a Namibian record quantity of cocaine into the country, one could only imagine the catastrophic consequences if such a large quantity of the drug had found its way into communities in Namibia, Sibeya said.
The trafficking of the cocaine into Namibia was an organised crime for which the two men cannot get away with a mere slap on the wrist, he said as well.
State advocate Tangeni Iitula conducted the prosecution during the last part of the trial.
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