000t8I
of reviewing the said conviction. lt is however of the opinion that, nothing prevents it
from examining such evidence as part of the evidence laid before it so as to
ascertain in general, whether consideration of the said evidence by the national
Judge was in conformity with the requirements of fair trial within the meaning of
Article 7 of the Charter in particular."l2
67.
ln this regard, the Court observes that "a fair trial requires that the imposition
of a sentence in a criminal offence, and in particular, a heavy prison sentence,
should be based on strong and credible evidence,,.13
68.
The Court also notes that when visual identification is used as evidence to
convict a person, all circumstances of possible mistakes should be ruled out and the
identity of the suspect should be established with certitude. This is also the accepted
principle in the Tanzanian jurisprudence.ra This demands that visual identification
should be corroborated by other circumstantial evidence and must be part of a
coherent and consistent account of the scene of the crime.
69.
ln the instant case, the record before this Court shows that the domestic
courts convicted the Applicant on the basis of evidence of visual identification
tendered by three Prosecution Witnesses, who were victims of the crimes. These
witnesses knew the Applicant before the commission of the crimes, since he used to
come to his uncle's house, who was the Applicant's co-accused. The national courts
thoroughly assessed the circumstances in which the crime was committed to
eliminate possible mistaken identity and found that the Applicant and his co-accused
were positively identified as having committed the alleged crimes.
70.
The court also observes that in addition to the victims, testimony on the
Applicant's and his co-accused's identity, the national courts also considered the
testimony of other Prosecution witnesses, namely, that of Mr. yusuf Bwiru and
Commander Anthony Michack. The national courts also relied on exhibits collected
12
't
Mohamed Abubakari judgment, paras.26, and 173
rbid , pa'a. 174
''rnt he Mafter of Waziri Amani v. United Republic of Tanzania, the Court of Appeal declared that ,,no
court should act on evidence of visual iden tifi cation unless all possibilities of mistaken
identi ty are
eliminated and the court is ful ly satisfied that the evidence before it absolutely
watertight"lbid, para
175
t7
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