160. It is thus apparent from the records that the indictment and the witnesses’ statements
were
not
promptly
communicated
communicated
by the
Prosecutor;
to the Applicant for reasons
evidence was made available to him
that some
as flimsy as shortage
evidence
was
not
of paper;
that the
with considerable delay; that the court decided to
proceed with the case whereas the Applicant was not personally in possession of all the
evidence substantiating the charge preferred against him; that in these circumstances, it
is clear that the Applicant was
not
in a favourable
position to proceed with his own
defence.
161. The Court thus holds that the police and judicial authorities, having not acted with
due diligence to communicate in due time to the Applicant all the elements of the charge,
the Respondent State has violated his right to a defence, as guaranteed by Article 7(1)
(c) of the Charter and Article 14(3)(a) and (b) of the Covenant.
H) The allegation that the charge was
witness who, moreover,
based
solely on the testimony of a single
had made contradictory statements
162. The Applicant alleges in his Application that his identification was
based
on the
testimony of one person, and that the conviction and sentence relied on a single piece of
evidence which was weak, tenuous, unreliable and uncorroborated.
163. In his written submissions attached to the Application, the Applicant explains in detail
how
the witness
Suzan
Justin
Frank
is not credible.
He
produces
extracts from this
person’s testimony which he finds contradictory, and argues that she lied in the sense
that she never knew the house or place where the accused was living prior to being told
by the visitor who went to sympathise with her. He maintained that, according
to the
Tanzanian jurisprudence, for purposes of identification of a suspect, one witness shall be
valid only if the Court is fully satisfied that the witness is telling the truth; but in this case,
SQ
RS &