Appeal proceedings extending over more than four months finally reached a conclusion on 7 July when Markus KATEKA received the news that he had been reprieved from execution. His death sentence has been commuted to 17 years imprisonment.
Kateka (40), a farm foreman in the Grootfontein area, was sentenced to death in the Windhoek Supreme Court on 13 October 1980, on conviction under the Terrorism Act of assisting SWAPO guerillas. Leave to appeal against the death penalty, which had initially been refused by the trial judge, was eventually granted in March 1980.
Kateka was held in Windhoek Central Prison while his appeal went before the Appellate Division of the Bloemfontein Supreme Court. Judgement was at first reserved on 7 May, but on 7 July, three judges commuted the death sentence to 17 years imprisonment.
A 10 year prison sentence imposed on Hendrik KARISEB (45) on similar charges, was reduced to seven years by the Appellate Division. An application for leave to appeal by Kariseb had initially been turned down.
