Namandje to hear fate in July
JEMIMA BEUKES
WINDHOEK
Prominent lawyer Sisa Namandje will hear on 24 July whether he must open his books to the Law Society of Namibia (LSN).
As part of their investigations into the so-called Fishrot scandal, the LSN has questions on whether bribes were laundered through the trust account of Namandje’s law firm.
During yesterday’s proceedings, High Court judge Herman Oosthuizen implored LSN to explain why they decided to approach a judge in chambers without the interested party being present at the meeting.
The LSN is represented by Uno Katjipuka-Sibolile, who said they approached an independent judge in chambers because of Namandje’s “failure to cooperate” with their investigation.
“This is why the LSN is required to approach a judge to have an independent person making sense of what is to be done. In this specific case, taking into an account that the matter was not brought on a basis of urgency, there are no allegations that documents would be destroyed otherwise.
“The judge decided that the matter should be served on the parties and they should be allowed to be heard,” she explained.
‘Should be unconstitutional’
Meanwhile, Advocate Raymond Heathcote, on behalf of Namandje, said the LSN exceeded their powers.
In fact, he said what the body is “trying to accomplish should be unconstitutional”.
According to him, Namandje opening his books goes against the rule of privacy.
Heathcote emphasised that a search and seizure warrant is nothing but the “ransacking of an office”, pointing out that attorney-client privilege cannot be foregone.
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WINDHOEK
Prominent lawyer Sisa Namandje will hear on 24 July whether he must open his books to the Law Society of Namibia (LSN).
As part of their investigations into the so-called Fishrot scandal, the LSN has questions on whether bribes were laundered through the trust account of Namandje’s law firm.
During yesterday’s proceedings, High Court judge Herman Oosthuizen implored LSN to explain why they decided to approach a judge in chambers without the interested party being present at the meeting.
The LSN is represented by Uno Katjipuka-Sibolile, who said they approached an independent judge in chambers because of Namandje’s “failure to cooperate” with their investigation.
“This is why the LSN is required to approach a judge to have an independent person making sense of what is to be done. In this specific case, taking into an account that the matter was not brought on a basis of urgency, there are no allegations that documents would be destroyed otherwise.
“The judge decided that the matter should be served on the parties and they should be allowed to be heard,” she explained.
‘Should be unconstitutional’
Meanwhile, Advocate Raymond Heathcote, on behalf of Namandje, said the LSN exceeded their powers.
In fact, he said what the body is “trying to accomplish should be unconstitutional”.
According to him, Namandje opening his books goes against the rule of privacy.
Heathcote emphasised that a search and seizure warrant is nothing but the “ransacking of an office”, pointing out that attorney-client privilege cannot be foregone.
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