EDITORIAL: Justice for Justine!

When President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah last week warned that no officer of the court should perform their duties under intimidation, few doubted that her words were prompted by the attack on state prosecutor Justine Shiweda - still clinging to life at the time.

Shiweda, shot in the legs and doused with acid on 17 October 2025, has now succumbed to her injuries. This was no ordinary crime. It struck at the very heart of Namibia’s rule of law, shaking the foundations of justice and the public’s confidence in the state’s ability to protect its own.

Detective Chief Inspector Antonius Gabriel, the prosecution’s key witness in the bail application of medical doctor Fillemon Nakanduungile, could barely contain his tears as he recounted Shiweda’s horrific injuries. Her colleagues wept in unison. Her mother and family members protested the granting of bail while Shiweda fought for her life in ICU. Meanwhile, her two minor children learned of their mother’s death while at an athletics event - a personal tragedy made all the more unbearable by its public and violent nature.

While the presumption of innocence is sacrosanct, it cannot be invoked to delay or weaken justice. Robbing a bank is a crime. But killing a prosecutor is a direct challenge to the entire legal system, a warning to Namibians that crime will thrive unchecked and that those who uphold the law will face death for doing so.

Namibia cannot surrender to this intimidation. Criminal syndicates must see that the state is resolute, that justice will not be delayed, and that the full force of the law will descend upon those who dare to attack its defenders. The memory of Justine Shiweda, and the courage she displayed in standing against powerful criminal interests, demands nothing less.