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High Court Judge’ postpones murder case judgment
2006-05-03 09:44:47
By Keregero Keregero
It was no freedom and no gallows but back to remand prison until next Monday for Agustino Bernard Kimaro, a Dar es Salaam city resident who has been in the dock for about five years accused of murdering a woman he had a love affair with.
Against all his expectations, the High Court in Dar es Salaam adjourned the delivery of the final verdict on his case, which could have made him a free man or a death row convict.
The High Court was supposed to deliver the final judgment yesterday but the judge in charge of the trial postponed its reading to Monday.
’The judgment of the murder case which was to be delivered today (yesterday) has been adjourned to next Monday to enable me complete writing it,’ Judge Bauxton Mlay said.
Judge Bauxton Mlay said the judgment would be delivered on Monday next week, a time frame that would provide him with adequate time to complete the task.
Kimaro is accused of murdering Rukia Abdallah in 2001 at Kigamboni in Temeke District, Dar es Salaam.
Since he was arrested in 2001, he has been in the remand prison as the case dragged on in the court.
He pledged his innocence when a murder charge was read for him in the court, though the prosecution had alleged the police had a written statement where he admitted the crime.
He defended himself saying he signed the statement under duress and sought the High Court not to admit the confession as evidence.
He denied ever having any relationship of whatever kind with the woman he is accused of murdering saying he had never met her.
The prosecution called on three witnesses who identified the accused as the killer.
Three Court assessors also said the accused was guilty of the murder.
Advocate Majura Magafu was defending the accused in the case while the state was represented by state attorney Neema Mwanda.
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