143. The Court also notes that nothing in the records indicates that the Applicant has or
had other sources of regular income; and that having been incarcerated, he could no
longer have such an income - which grounds prompted this Court to assign a lawyer to
him at his request in the instant case.
144. The Court notes, lastly, that the Respondent State failed to adequately demonstrate
that it had
absolutely
no financial
capacity to grant free legal assistance
to indigent
persons, alleged perpetrators of serious crimes liable to punishment as severe as thirty
years imprisonment.
145. For these reasons, the Court in the instant case, holds that the Respondent State
ought to have afforded the Applicant, automatically and free of charge, the services of a
lawyer throughout the proceedings in the local courts. In failing to do so, the Respondent
State violated Article 7 of the Charter and Article 14 of the Covenant.
F) The allegation that the Applicant was
discriminated
against in terms of legal
assistance
146. In his written submissions annexed to the Application, the Applicant alleges that he
did not have the benefit of legal aid, and that he was discriminated against, especially for
reasons of his state of poverty, in violation of Article 13 of the Tanzanian Constitution.
147.
At
the
Public
Hearing,
Counsel
for the Applicant
invoked
the
Principles
and
Guidelines of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Right to a
Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa, particularly
Prosecutors who
should
ethnic,
principle (f)
thereof on the role of
carry out their functions without bias and eschew
social,
racial,
religious,
cultural,
sexual,
should
protect the public interest and act
gender
or any
objectively taking
kind
all
political,
of discrimination,
into proper account the
position of both the suspect and the victim.
40
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