Inmate demands parole
Jermano Jeraldo Eiseb claims that he should have been released on parole after serving one year of his two-year sentence for assault GBH.
An inmate at the Windhoek Correctional Facility is demanding to be released on parole with immediate effect.
Jermano Jeraldo Eiseb, in an urgent application filed with the High Court this week, said he was eligible for parole after having served half of his 24-month sentence.
“The prison authorities have violated my constitutional right by their notorious delay of my release on parole,” Eiseb argued in an affidavit before the High Court in Windhoek.
Eiseb argued that he was supposed to have been released on 30 December 2016. He is currently in the Windhoek Correctional Facility serving 24 months' imprisonment after his initial sentence of 36 months was reduced by 12 months.
Eiseb was sentenced on 31 August 2016 in Gobabis on one count of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, which he maintains is not a schedule one offence.
He was transferred from Gobabis to Divundu prison on 28 September 2016 and was then transferred to Windhoek Correctional Facility on 24 February 2017.
He maintains that he has served half of his sentence and qualifies to be released on parole in accordance with the provisions of the Prison Service Act.
“All Namibians are eligible to be released on parole, including foreign nationals, but I am still in prison,” Eiseb said.
According to Eiseb, the parole recommendations usually start three months prior to the eligibility date for an offender to be released on full parole or probation. He added that a non-schedule-one offender should complete half of his sentence in order to be considered for release on parole.
Eiseb maintained the prison authorities had failed him, as other people were recommended on time and were released.
He maintained that the National Release Board has the mandate to authorise the release of offenders for all non-schedule-one crimes serving less than five years.
“My parole was on 30 August 2017 but the prison authorities did not release me. They claim parole is not a right but a privilege,” Eiseb argued.
The respondents in the case are the commissioner-general of the Namibian Correctional Service, Raphael Hamunyela, the safety and security minister, the officer in charge of the Divundu and Windhoek prisons and the commissioner of the National Release Board.
He argued that it was evident from his prison file that he was cooperative and respected inmates as well as the guards during his time in custody.
“I am a non-schedule-one offender, served more than half of my prison term but I was not recommended to be considered for parole and this amounts to illegality,” Eiseb charged.
FRED GOEIEMAN
Jermano Jeraldo Eiseb, in an urgent application filed with the High Court this week, said he was eligible for parole after having served half of his 24-month sentence.
“The prison authorities have violated my constitutional right by their notorious delay of my release on parole,” Eiseb argued in an affidavit before the High Court in Windhoek.
Eiseb argued that he was supposed to have been released on 30 December 2016. He is currently in the Windhoek Correctional Facility serving 24 months' imprisonment after his initial sentence of 36 months was reduced by 12 months.
Eiseb was sentenced on 31 August 2016 in Gobabis on one count of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, which he maintains is not a schedule one offence.
He was transferred from Gobabis to Divundu prison on 28 September 2016 and was then transferred to Windhoek Correctional Facility on 24 February 2017.
He maintains that he has served half of his sentence and qualifies to be released on parole in accordance with the provisions of the Prison Service Act.
“All Namibians are eligible to be released on parole, including foreign nationals, but I am still in prison,” Eiseb said.
According to Eiseb, the parole recommendations usually start three months prior to the eligibility date for an offender to be released on full parole or probation. He added that a non-schedule-one offender should complete half of his sentence in order to be considered for release on parole.
Eiseb maintained the prison authorities had failed him, as other people were recommended on time and were released.
He maintained that the National Release Board has the mandate to authorise the release of offenders for all non-schedule-one crimes serving less than five years.
“My parole was on 30 August 2017 but the prison authorities did not release me. They claim parole is not a right but a privilege,” Eiseb argued.
The respondents in the case are the commissioner-general of the Namibian Correctional Service, Raphael Hamunyela, the safety and security minister, the officer in charge of the Divundu and Windhoek prisons and the commissioner of the National Release Board.
He argued that it was evident from his prison file that he was cooperative and respected inmates as well as the guards during his time in custody.
“I am a non-schedule-one offender, served more than half of my prison term but I was not recommended to be considered for parole and this amounts to illegality,” Eiseb charged.
FRED GOEIEMAN
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