Alleged paedophile Maree loses N$300 000 defamation claim

High Court Judge Gabriel Komboni on Friday afternoon dismissed a N$300 000 defamation lawsuit brought by Johann Wickus Maree against Namibian Sun and its holding company Network Media Hub (NMH).

Maree sued over a Namibian Sun front-page article published on 24 March 2024 under the headline “Sport photographer faces 24 rape charges”, with the subheadline “'Paedophile' earned N$77 000 from child porn”.

Maree argued that the article portrayed him as a paedophile, child rapist and convicted criminal who had earned N$77 000 from selling child pornography on the dark web, sexually abused children and threatened them to prevent them from reporting him.

He also objected to the article referring to the children as “his victims”, arguing that he had not been convicted and remained entitled to the presumption of innocence.

Komboni, however, found that the article had to be read as a whole and in its full context, rather than by isolating individual words or phrases.

The judge ruled that the article was not defamatory, finding that it contained material that was true or substantially true and concerned matters in the public interest.

The court further found that the defendants, represented by Norman Tjombe, had established all the defences they raised, including the defence of reasonable publication in the public interest.

Maree’s claim was dismissed and he was ordered to pay NMH’s legal costs.

Maree was represented by Milton Engelbrecht.

Dispute

Maree’s complaint centred largely on the impression he said the article created among readers.

He told the court that the publication had caused him humiliation and ridicule while he was in custody, saying fellow inmates called him a “paedophile” and “child molester”.

He further testified that his family had withdrawn from him, that he felt dehumanised and that he had lost confidence in appearing before people.

Maree maintained that the newspaper knew he was an accused person awaiting trial and should therefore not have reported the allegations in a manner that, in his view, presented them as established facts.

NMH disputed that interpretation.

The defendants argued that the article clearly reported on charges before the High Court and did not state that Maree had been convicted.

Namibian Sun Editor-in-Chief Toivo Ndjebela testified that the word “paedophile” appeared in quotation marks and that the article used “alleged” and “allegedly” 24 times.

The article also stated that Maree’s trial was continuing and that State witnesses were expected to testify.

Court focuses on the article as a whole

Komboni said Maree had isolated particular words from the publication, whereas the proper approach was to consider the article as an ordinary reasonable reader would.

The judge relied on an earlier High Court decision cautioning against a “piecemeal interpretation” of a publication, saying individual words should not be removed from the context of the article.

In this case, Komboni found that the overall theme of the article was the criminal charges Maree was facing.

The court also accepted that the allegations reported in the article related to matters that had been canvassed in the criminal proceedings.

Confession statement and public interest

Tjombe also relied on a confession statement Maree made before a magistrate in June 2022, which had been ruled admissible in his criminal trial.

According to the judgment, the statement contained admissions relating to sexual offences against children, while the N$77 000 allegation came from the indictment and summary of substantial facts.

Maree challenged the use of the confession in the defamation proceedings, but the judge accepted NMH’s reliance on the material.

Komboni further found that the serious criminal charges Maree faces were matters of legitimate public interest, particularly given his previous work as a police reservist and sports photographer.

The judge therefore found that Tjombe had established the defence of reasonable publication in the public interest, resulting in the dismissal of Maree’s claim.