Alleged hijacker faces life imprisonment

OARABILE MOSIKARE
Correspondent | Friday March 16, 2007 00:00

It is alleged that Amos Atave Ako, on January 21, at the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport, hijacked an AB aircraft en route to Johannesburg.

The South African police arrested him immediately the plane landed at the Oliver Tambo (OT) International Airport. The passengers arrived safely.

On January 16, Ako appeared before Chief Magistrate Kenneth Obeng facing a single charge of common nuisance and entered a charge of not guilty.

The Aviation Security Act of 1993 calls for life imprisonment for any person who violates the Act, Obeng said.

He quoted Section 4 (1) of the Act that states that 'for the purpose of this Act, and subject to subsection (2) and (3), a person on an aircraft who unlawfully seizes or takes control of that aircraft by the use of force or threats commits the offence of hijacking, whatever his nationality, whatever the state in which the aircraft is registered,' Obeng said.

Subsection 4 states that any person who attempts to commit the offence of hijacking or aids, abets, counsels or procures any such person, or is an accomplice to a person who commits or attempts to commit any such offence commits an offence and shall be liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for life.

The state then made an application that he should be remanded in custody pending trial.

According to the indictment, he at the Centre for Illegal Immigrants at Gerald in Francistown, without lawful authority, the accused undressed in public 'thereby causing annoyance and inconvenience to the said public'.

He then applied for bail and made a long speech in which he made several allegations and appealed to the court to help him. Obeng assured him that he would pass on his complaints to the UNHCR.

Mmegi got hold of a savingram from Obeng addressed to the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Gaborone in which he submitted the allegations to the UNHCR for consideration and hoped that it may investigate them and give him the necessary help. The correspondent was copied to the Permanent Secretary to the President, Commissioner of Prisons, the Registrar of the High Court and the accused person, Ako.

Ako says that he came seeking political asylum in Botswana but had been detained for 1, 170 days 'without guidance of a magistrate, the High Court, or the High Commissioner for Refugees.' He argues that he had been assaulted both physically and mentally by prison officers, who had allegedly told him that that was the way they performed their duties in this country.

'He was once put in solidarity confinement and made to sleep on the floor for 90 days for no apparent reason,' Obeng's letter reads.

It adds that the prison officers have told him that as a refugee, he has no rights in Botswana. He was initially confined at the Maximum Security Prison in Gaborone but was transferred to the Centre for Illegal Immigrants in Francistown where he was told conditions were better.

When he came to the Centre, he alleged that the prison officers told him they were not interested in him so he wrote the UNHCR for help. 'The UNHCR made a representation on his behalf to the Office of the President (OP) which in September 2006 rejected his application and asked him to leave the country.

'He has no travel documents and has no means to travel out of the country and he cannot approach any embassy or High Commission of Cameroon for help as that would expose him to danger since he is a political refugee,' reads the letter. Out of the frustration and to demonstrate his plight, he stripped himself naked at the Administration of the Centre on January 10, 2007.

That made the prison officers to assault him, which made his eyes bloodshot. He alleged that he has written several letters to the Regional Immigration Officer but each time he is told to be patient. Ako also alleged that he has talked to the Deputy Regional Immigration Officer and he too always told him to be patient.

He submitted that he has lost appetite for food for he was traumatised and threw out when he attempted to eat. He said he could not sleep, got nightmares and would like to stay outside while waiting for the trial of the case. 'He is of the opinion that the UNHCR or some Non- Governmental Organisations may accommodate him pending trial of the case,' Obeng's letter ends.