Julieta: They want to break my husband’s spirit

Julieta Amushelelo, the wife of Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) commissar Michael Amushelelo, says there are deliberate efforts by state actors to break her husband’s spirit to ensure he gives up the fight against exploitation and poverty.The 23-year-old said no amount of denial will change the fact that her husband is being kept in solitary confinement at the Windhoek Correctional Facility in order the bully him into submission and make him quit the fight for the poor. Authorities also want to damage his mental health, she claimed."My husband is kept in a solitary cell; in other words, in solitary confinement. Unable to have any sort of human contact with anyone, he gets 30 minutes a day to see a visitor, and the rest of the time he spends in a cold cell with only his thoughts,” she told Namibian Sun this week.“They want to make sure he breaks or loses his mind before letting him go, and this is why they are going above and beyond to keep him there. Solitary confinement can be lethal to mental health," she said.Amushelelo was arrested on Independence Day – 21 March – when young unemployed youths tried to hold a march in Katutura to make their plight known. It was his fourth arrest this year, after being apprehended twice in Windhoek and once at Walvis Bay – all during workers’ demonstrations.‘Under attack’Prior to joining politics, Amushelelo was a budding young entrepreneur and was declared Namibia Breweries Limited’s (NBL) 2014 business ambassador.In recent years, he became a Forex trader, but this did not last long after he was stopped in his tracks by the Bank of Namibia and prosecutorial authorities who froze his assets. The going has not been easy since.According to Julieta, the couple&#039;s business ventures have suffered severely as they are always "targeted" and “under attack"."Our businesses are forever being targeted. Him being in politics complicates things for us. Every time he gets assaulted and arrested by the police, it sets us back, but we knew this would happen.“When someone tells the truth, they need to be ready to suffer the consequences because the government does not like people who enlighten others. The government wants people to keep on sleeping while they eat and destroy our country," she said.‘I’d stay with him’The young wife said she worries for Amushelelo&#039;s safety after police officials said he was a "high-profile inmate" and feels hopeless that she can&#039;t help him."I know that he is going through a lot right now, and I feel hopeless that I am unable to help him, especially because I know the type of heart he has. He is always helping others, so now that I can&#039;t help him, it pains me," she said.With minimum access to visitors and time, Julieta said she visits Amushelelo every time she is allowed, but would stay with him if she could."If it was up to me, I would stay there with him. My husband has always been selfless and full-hearted.”In an Instagram Story yesterday afternoon, she wrote: "I would like to say this now: My husband has no medical issues. No heart problems, no lung problems, nothing! So if anything happens to him while in solitary confinement, it&#039;s because the corrupt regime orchestrated it."Killing himNEFF president Epafras Mukwiilongo yesterday alleged that the authorities are trying to ‘kill’ Amushelelo by keeping him in isolation.“This is a Zimbabwean style of killing opposition figures. Usually people are kept in isolation in order to make it easy to poison their food or blankets. We are informed that people have been bribed to ensure he’s not released,” he said.Julieta added that things have gotten tougher for her family since her husband’s involvement in active politics.“Things have been hard because of the path we have chosen and there are days we question whether this [cause] is worth fighting for, but in our hearts, we know that this is the right thing to do. So, we pray to God for strength and guidance to keep us going," Julieta, who herself faces charges related to her involvement in demonstrations last year at Chinatown, said.

Julieta: They want to break my husband’s spirit

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-02

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Julieta: They want to break my husband’s spirit

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-02

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