000800
the witnesses to identify him during the commission of the alleged crime was
questionable.
59. The Respondent State refutes all the allegations raised by the Applicant, noting
that the Applicant's conviction was based on credible identification evidence. lt
also avers that over and above the identification evidence, the Court of Appeal
found that the said witnesses had done their identification at the earliest
possible opportunity which gave even more credence to their testimony.
60.The Respondent State submits that the evidence was analysed in all the
domestic proceedings, adding that the Applicant was convicted not only as a
result of voice evidence and visual evidence and the fact that witnesses were
able to name the Applicant, whom they knew before the incident, to be the
assailant. The Respondent State adds that other evidence, apart from voice
and visual identification placed the Applicant at the scene of the crime at the
material date and time when the crime was committed.
61. The Court notes that it does not have the power to evaluate matters of
evidence that were settled in national courts. Nevertheless, the Court has the
power to determine whether the assessment of the evidence in the national
courts complies with relevant provisions
of
international human rights
instruments.
62. The Court further reiterates its position in the matter of Kijiji lsiaga
v. Tanzania
that:
"...domestic courts enjoy a wide margin of discretion in evaluating the
probative value of a particular evidence. As an international human rights
court, the Court cannot take up this role from the domestic courts and
15
/a
e---