Gerhard Karihab

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Charge:	Uranium possession
Sentence:	"12 months or N$5,000 fine"
Years Imprisoned:	1
Year Crime:	2004
Year Convicted:	2007
Year Cleared:	2012
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Namibia
County or Region of Crime:
City of Crime:	Swakopmund
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Gerhard Karihab was wrongly convicted on November 26, 2007 of having been found with powder and liquid uranium in the garage at his house in Swakopmund, Namibia on November 25, 2004. Karihab was employed by Rossing Uranium. Gerhard Karihab was sentenced to 12 months in prison or a fine of N$5,000. Karihab appealed but his conviction and sentence were affirmed in June 2010. He then filed another appeal and on May 24, 2012 the High Court of Namibia in Windhoek overturned Karihab's conviction on the basis that the prosecution didn't prove that the four plastic bags containing a dark green powder and a five-litre container of yellow liquid found at his home was in fact uranium. There was no recognizable chain of custody and so it is unknown if material later tested and found to contain uranium in fact was the same material as that seized from Karihab's garage. Judge Siboleka said, "In the absence of such evidence a reasonable possibility exists that the stuff could have been tampered with or even substituted for something else.""
Conviction Caused By:	"Assumption that the material seized from his garage was uranium, without the prosecution presenting any evidence it actually was."
Innocence Proved By:	"On May 24, 2012 the High Court in Windhoek overturned Karihab's conviction on the basis that the prosecution didn't prove that the four plastic bags containing a dark green powder and a five-litre container of yellow liquid found at his home was in fact uranium."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	48
Age When Released:	49
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:
Information Source 1:	"High Court overturns Rossing’s uranium theft conviction, By Werner Menges (staff), The Namibian, May 29, 2012"
Information Location 1:	http://www.namibian.com.na/news-articles/national/full-story/archive/2012/may/article/high-court-overturns-rossings-uranium-theft-conviction/
Information Source 2:	"Namibia High Court Overturns Rossing's Uranium Theft Conviction, By Werner Menges (The Namibian staff), AllAfrica.com, May 29, 2012"
Information Location 2:	http://allafrica.com/stories/201205290698.html
Information Source 3:	"Three Nabbed With Uranium, The Nambian, December 6, 2004"
Information Location 3:	http://business.highbeam.com/3548/article-1G1-125844726/three-nabbed-uranium
Information Source 4:	"Gerhard Karihab v. The State, No. CA-20 (High Court of Namibia, June 2010)"
Information Location 4:	http://www.saflii.org/na/cases/NAHC/2010/77.pdf
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
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Gerhard Karihab

Charge:

Uranium possession

Sentence:

"12 months or N$5,000 fine"

Years Imprisoned:

1

Year Crime:

2004

Year Convicted:

2007

Year Cleared:

2012

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Namibia

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

Swakopmund

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"Assumption that the material seized from his garage was uranium, without the prosecution presenting any evidence it actually was."

Innocence Proved By:

"On May 24, 2012 the High Court in Windhoek overturned Karihab's conviction on the basis that the prosecution didn't prove that the four plastic bags containing a dark green powder and a five-litre container of yellow liquid found at his home was in fact uranium."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

48

Age When Released:

49

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"High Court overturns Rossing’s uranium theft conviction, By Werner Menges (staff), The Namibian, May 29, 2012"

Information Location 1:

http://www.namibian.com.na/news-articles/national/full-story/archive/2012/may/article/high-court-overturns-rossings-uranium-theft-conviction/

Information Source 2:

"Namibia High Court Overturns Rossing's Uranium Theft Conviction, By Werner Menges (The Namibian staff), AllAfrica.com, May 29, 2012"

Information Location 2:

http://allafrica.com/stories/201205290698.html

Information Source 3:

"Three Nabbed With Uranium, The Nambian, December 6, 2004"

Information Location 3:

http://business.highbeam.com/3548/article-1G1-125844726/three-nabbed-uranium

Information Source 4:

"Gerhard Karihab v. The State, No. CA-20 (High Court of Namibia, June 2010)"

Information Location 4:

http://www.saflii.org/na/cases/NAHC/2010/77.pdf

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: