A Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court yesterday deferred judgment to November 30, in an inquiry being conducted on Azuka Okah over the ringing of her cell phone in court.
On October 21, Mrs. Okah was attending the bail application hearing of her husband, who is facing terrorism related charges in connection with the October 1 bombings in Nigeria, when her cell phone rang during proceedings.
The Magistrate, Hein Louw, had last week fixed judgment in the case for November 18, on the expectation that he would have delivered judgment in the bail application of her husband, Henry Okah, before then.
The Magistrate had said that due to the closeness of Mrs. Okah to her husband, he chose to give judgment in her case, after dealing with her husband’s matter.
However, the court was unable to deliver its verdict in Mr. Okah’s bail bid at the last sitting on November 12, and has fixed it for tomorrow, November 19.
Mrs. Okah’s lawyer, Rudi Klause, had during the inquiry, told the court that she was under pressure, and had actually placed her phone in silent mode until the court stood down the case. He, therefore, apologised for the error, which he said was not intentional, though negligent.
Shaun Abrahams, the prosecution counsel, had said the court should use its discretion in the matter, as Mr. Klause had referred to it as a case of negligence.
The judge had said his court had never had such huge number of disruptions before, and he had even overlooked some of them. He said he understood the pressure Mrs. Okah was under, but added he would give judgment in the matter.
Judgment in the bail application was stalled on November 12, as the Magistrate handling the case said CD recordings of proceedings were retrieved from him for transcription while he was preparing his verdict.
Mr. Louw, therefore, fixed today, November 19, to deliver the judgment, by which time, he said, he would have finished with two other outstanding judgments he is working on, which also demanded urgent action.
The Magistrate said apart from the CD request, another issue which affected the delivery of the verdict was that he lost access to his electronic library with which he tried to review some case laws, and he was told it was a national problem.
Mr. Okah is presently held in a single cell at the Johannesburg Prison. He is, among other issues, charged with delivering, placing, and detonation of explosives, and conspiring with others to do so, in connection with the explosions which claimed no fewer than 12 lives.
Mr. Okah, who maintains he is innocent, is asking the court for bail while the state is opp osing the application. He has been in custody since October 2, a day after the explosions, and first appeared in court on October 4.
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