SA Fishrot lawyers still on tenterhooks
Arrested after it was discovered that they didn’t have the necessary papers to work in the country, the South African lawyers were here to represent some of the Fishrot accused.
ESTER KAMATI
WINDHOEK
The case of two South African lawyers who were initially found guilty in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court of working in Namibia illegally – and later cleared by the High Court – is back in the spotlight after the home affairs ministry approached the country’s apex court to challenge the High Court ruling.
The ministry is appealing the June High Court judgement and orders of Acting Justice Collins Parker after he ruled in favour of South African lawyers Michael Hellens and David Joubert, who appeared in the High Court after having been arrested in Windhoek due to immigration issues in 2019.
They were in the country to represent some of the Fishrot accused persons who remain behind bars while awaiting trial.
Joubert and Hellens were arrested after it was discovered that they did not have the necessary papers to work in the country. They subsequently successfully appealed the conviction, which Judge Parker nullified, stating that their arrest was unlawful.
In a notice of appeal seen by Namibian Sun, the home affairs ministry is appealing Collins’ judgement which states that the duo was unlawfully arrested.
It further said that the judge had made a mistake in ruling out the magistrate’s decision based on the circumstances of arrest, while both prosecution and defence allegedly failed to raise these circumstances of the arrest and detention before the said magistrate.
No jurisdiction
The home affairs ministry also claimed that issues raised in the criminal appeal and the review before the judge were different, adding that the court did not have jurisdiction to entertain the application of appeal.
The ministry further questioned that the respondents were in fact entitled to be in Namibia at the time of arrest.
While the appeal has been filed with the Supreme Court, a date has not yet been set for the case to be heard.
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WINDHOEK
The case of two South African lawyers who were initially found guilty in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court of working in Namibia illegally – and later cleared by the High Court – is back in the spotlight after the home affairs ministry approached the country’s apex court to challenge the High Court ruling.
The ministry is appealing the June High Court judgement and orders of Acting Justice Collins Parker after he ruled in favour of South African lawyers Michael Hellens and David Joubert, who appeared in the High Court after having been arrested in Windhoek due to immigration issues in 2019.
They were in the country to represent some of the Fishrot accused persons who remain behind bars while awaiting trial.
Joubert and Hellens were arrested after it was discovered that they did not have the necessary papers to work in the country. They subsequently successfully appealed the conviction, which Judge Parker nullified, stating that their arrest was unlawful.
In a notice of appeal seen by Namibian Sun, the home affairs ministry is appealing Collins’ judgement which states that the duo was unlawfully arrested.
It further said that the judge had made a mistake in ruling out the magistrate’s decision based on the circumstances of arrest, while both prosecution and defence allegedly failed to raise these circumstances of the arrest and detention before the said magistrate.
No jurisdiction
The home affairs ministry also claimed that issues raised in the criminal appeal and the review before the judge were different, adding that the court did not have jurisdiction to entertain the application of appeal.
The ministry further questioned that the respondents were in fact entitled to be in Namibia at the time of arrest.
While the appeal has been filed with the Supreme Court, a date has not yet been set for the case to be heard.
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