95. The Court recalls its jurisprudence 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”.30
96. The Court also observes that when visual identification is used as a source
of evidence to convict a person, all circumstances of possible mistakes
should be ruled out and the identity of the suspect should be established
with certainty. This is also the recognised principle in the Tanzanian
jurisprudence. ln addition, the evidence of visual identification must
demonstrate a coherent and consistent account of the crime scene. The
Court has also previously stated that it is not an appellate court and ‘as a
matter of principle, it is up to national courts to decide on the probative value
of a particular piece of evidence.31 As such, the Court cannot assume this
role of the domestic courts and investigate the details and particulars of
evidence used in domestic proceedings to establish the criminal culpability
of individuals.32
97. Regarding the Applicants’ claim that there were some inconsistencies in the
testimonies of prosecution witnesses, this Court observes that the Court of
Appeal considered the second ground of appeal raised by the Applicant,
which was that the trial Magistrate erred in law and in fact when he relied
on the P3 form (medical examination form) and the statement of PW5, who
is a clinical officer who examined the Applicant and completed the P3 Form
on 3 November 2012, while the alleged offence for which he was charged
occurred on 4 November 2012.33 The Court further observes that in his oral
submissions the prosecutor joined hands with the appellant (Applicant) and
admitted that the medical report, P3 Form was wrongly admitted by the trial
magistrate and requested the Court to expunge it as part of the evidence.
The prosecutor nevertheless observed that there was insurmountable
30
Isiaga v. Tanzania (merits), supra, § 67.
lsiaga v. Tanzania, ibid, § 65 and Werema Wangoko Werema and Another v. United Republic of
Tanzania (merits) (7 December 2018) 2 AfCLR 520, § 60.
32 Ibid.
33 Court of Appeal Judgment dated 21/09 & 12/10/15, page 3 and 5.
31
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