Former treason accused sue for N$156m
Five men acquitted of treason charges in 2015 are suing the government for unlawful arrest, prosecution and detention.
They are claiming damages totalling N$156 343 284.
Gabriel Mwilima, John Samati Yalubbi, Robert Lifasi Chelezo, Gabriel Nyambe Ntelamo and Eugene Milunga Ngalaule were acquitted of 200 charges, including high treason and murder, in September 2015.
Mwilima is claiming damages of N$75 000 000 while Yalubbi is suing for N$18 097 486, Chelezo for N$19 223 597, Ntelamo for N$24 418 053 and Ngalaule for N$19 604 147.
Deputy Judge President Petrus Damaseb last week postponed the matter to 4 December.
The claimants allege that they suffered general damages including loss of income and degradation, injury to self-esteem and to their reputations, deliberate and offensive deprivation of their freedoms including freedom of movement, and discomfort and inconvenience.
The former treason accused were each detained for 5 889 days from 2 August 1999 until 14 September 2015, when they were not found guilty and released from prison.
The applicants are now before the High Court in Windhoek suing the government, the minister of safety and security, the inspector-general of the Namibian police and the prosecutor-general.
Mwilima in his case alleged that the prosecutor-general and her employees wrongfully and maliciously continued to prosecute as from 11 October 2007.
This, he alleges, was done knowing the testimonies of all the witnesses and all the evidence which could have been presented for the purpose attempting to implicate him regarding the commission of any of the charges were completed by 11 October 2007.
“Despite the facts and circumstances the prosecutor-general and her personnel continued to prosecute me until 14 September 2015,” he alleges.
He added that they ought to have stopped the prosecution in terms of the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act on 11 October 2007 or within a reasonable time thereafter.
As a result of their conduct he was detained during the period of 2 August 1999 until 14 September 2015 in various prisons and correctional facilities throughout the country.
Mwilima claims that he was arrested on 2 August 1999 at Katima Mulilo without a warrant of arrest after the police wrongfully and maliciously laid false charges.
They allegedly gave false information that he was arrested on over 200 charges including high treason and murder.
He argues that the police had no reasonable or probable cause for doing so, nor did they have any reasonable belief in truth of the information given.According to him, the prosecutor-general and her employees wrongfully and maliciously set the law in motion against him and continued to do so by prosecuting him on the 200 charges.
This was allegedly done while they did not have probable cause and without sufficient information which substantiated such charges or justified his prosecution of such charges. He alternatively states that they did not have any reasonable belief in the truth of any information given to them which could have implicated him in the commission of high treason or any of the other serious charges. The matter is still in case management at the High Court.
FRED GOEIEMAN
They are claiming damages totalling N$156 343 284.
Gabriel Mwilima, John Samati Yalubbi, Robert Lifasi Chelezo, Gabriel Nyambe Ntelamo and Eugene Milunga Ngalaule were acquitted of 200 charges, including high treason and murder, in September 2015.
Mwilima is claiming damages of N$75 000 000 while Yalubbi is suing for N$18 097 486, Chelezo for N$19 223 597, Ntelamo for N$24 418 053 and Ngalaule for N$19 604 147.
Deputy Judge President Petrus Damaseb last week postponed the matter to 4 December.
The claimants allege that they suffered general damages including loss of income and degradation, injury to self-esteem and to their reputations, deliberate and offensive deprivation of their freedoms including freedom of movement, and discomfort and inconvenience.
The former treason accused were each detained for 5 889 days from 2 August 1999 until 14 September 2015, when they were not found guilty and released from prison.
The applicants are now before the High Court in Windhoek suing the government, the minister of safety and security, the inspector-general of the Namibian police and the prosecutor-general.
Mwilima in his case alleged that the prosecutor-general and her employees wrongfully and maliciously continued to prosecute as from 11 October 2007.
This, he alleges, was done knowing the testimonies of all the witnesses and all the evidence which could have been presented for the purpose attempting to implicate him regarding the commission of any of the charges were completed by 11 October 2007.
“Despite the facts and circumstances the prosecutor-general and her personnel continued to prosecute me until 14 September 2015,” he alleges.
He added that they ought to have stopped the prosecution in terms of the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act on 11 October 2007 or within a reasonable time thereafter.
As a result of their conduct he was detained during the period of 2 August 1999 until 14 September 2015 in various prisons and correctional facilities throughout the country.
Mwilima claims that he was arrested on 2 August 1999 at Katima Mulilo without a warrant of arrest after the police wrongfully and maliciously laid false charges.
They allegedly gave false information that he was arrested on over 200 charges including high treason and murder.
He argues that the police had no reasonable or probable cause for doing so, nor did they have any reasonable belief in truth of the information given.According to him, the prosecutor-general and her employees wrongfully and maliciously set the law in motion against him and continued to do so by prosecuting him on the 200 charges.
This was allegedly done while they did not have probable cause and without sufficient information which substantiated such charges or justified his prosecution of such charges. He alternatively states that they did not have any reasonable belief in the truth of any information given to them which could have implicated him in the commission of high treason or any of the other serious charges. The matter is still in case management at the High Court.
FRED GOEIEMAN
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