Hamunyela entitled to just N$60K, State argues

While controversial retired major-general Thomas Hamunyela is suing the Namibian Police for N$420 000, the State has argued that he is only entitled to N$60 000.

Hamunyela took legal action following his alleged “unlawful, arbitrary and unnecessary” arrest for stock theft which saw him spending three nights behind bars in January 2021.

This is contained in the heads of argument of both the plaintiff, Hamunyela, and the defendant, the ministry of home affairs, immigration, safety and security.

The trial, which commenced on Tuesday, is being heard by High Court judge Esi Schimming-Chase.

Hamunyela filed the civil suit in March 2021 following his 12 January 2021 arrest after he was accused of having stolen livestock valued at N$30 000 in the Kavango West Region.

The Rundu Magistrate’s Court granted him N$5 000 bail.

Two months later, he dragged the ministry to court for “cruel and brutal” treatment in custody.

‘Without justification’

“One of the considerations is the fact that the defendant did not have any regard to the plaintiff’s dignity or his position in society. His treatment was a brutal and cruel aggression on his dignity, without justification,” Hamunyela’s legal team argued.

“At the Rundu Police Station on 12 January 2021, the plaintiff was made to sleep under a table on top of which there was a landline phone device which constantly rang throughout the night.

“The plaintiff was neither provided with a matrass or blanket. The plaintiff was not informed of his rights and the reason for his detention.

“Despite having suffered and, in fact, having been injured in battles during the war of the liberation of Namibia, he was treated with raw contempt for his dignity. There was an active, malicious and deliberate misrepresentation of facts to secure a prolonged detention of the plaintiff in the circumstances where there was no reasonable suspicion in committing of an offence.”

Failed to prove it

After conceding that there was an error in how Hamunyela’s arrest was handled, the State argued that he is only entitled to N$60 000 compensation as he failed to prove the amount of damages he suffered.

He also failed to provide an expert report which indicates how he was humiliated, it said.

“He has not produced written proof or an expert report on the type of humiliation he claims to have suffered at the hands of the police,” the State argued.

“An amount in the sum of N$60 000, representing full and final settlement as an award, would suffice under the circumstances.”

[email protected]