Judge demands proof of witness’ mental illness in two days

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A witness, the assistant inspector of police was expected to testify before the high court as the eighth witness in a drug trafficking case facing a Kinondoni resident, Ms Rukia Mohamed

Moshi. The Judge-in-charge of the High Court in Moshi Zone, Ms Aishiel Sumari has given two days for the prosecution side in a drug trafficking case to establish the truth that one of the witnesses known as Shufaa was suffering from mental illness.

A witness, the assistant inspector of police was expected to testify before the high court as the eighth witness in a drug trafficking case facing a Kinondoni resident, Ms Rukia Mohamed.

However, the prosecution led by Senior State Attorney, Mr Hassan Nkya, who is assisted by State Attorney, Mr Ignas Mwinuka wanted the court to postpone the case after the witness had failed to appear before the court for the second consecutive time.

“The office of the Kilimanjaro Regional Crime Officer (RCO) has informed us that the witness is sick and it seems the witness is suffering from mental diseases, which has led to her failure to appear before the court,” he said.

He told the court that they have decided to confirm the information by conducting a medical examination for the said witness, which shall be produced at the court as part of their testimony.

The request was strongly opposed by defendant’s lawyer, Mr David Shilatu, which called for intervention of Judge Sumari who accepted the plea, but stressed that it should be in two days.

Ms Sumari said confirmation and self-gratification should be concluded within two days, noting that the case will continue on Wednesday, February 21.

“The case has taken too long to complete, therefore the case will continue after two days even if confirmation wasn’t successful,” he said.

The prosecution claims that on December 21, 2013, at the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA), Ms Mohamed was arrested trafficking 1,471.15 grammes of heroin worth Sh66.2 million to Enugu, Nigeria, charges that were denied by the defendant.