Activists Michael Amushelelo and Dimbulukeni Nauyoma have won a case in which they sued the minister of safety and security, the inspector general of the Namibian police and the prosecutor general in connection with their arrest and subsequent detention in 2023.
Amushelelo was awarded N$300 000 and Nauyoma was awarded N$80 000 in a judgement delivered by acting judge Natasha Bassingthwaighte in the Windhoek High Court on Wednesday.
Amushelelo and Nauyoma sued the minister, inspector general and prosecutor general for N$6 million and N$4 million, respectively, after they were found not guilty in October 2023 on charges on which they had been arrested in March 2023.
They claimed they were unlawfully arrested in Windhoek and detained after the police prevented them from staging a public protest about unemployment in Namibia on 21 March 2023.
Amushelelo was held in custody for nearly seven months before he and Nauyoma were acquitted in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court at Katutura on charges of public violence, malicious damage to property and incitement of public violence.
Nauyoma was released on bail two weeks after their arrest.
Amushelelo and Nauyoma were arrested with Popular Democratic Movement member of parliament Inna Hengari, against whom charges were withdrawn before the start of the two men’s trial five months after their arrests.
Bassingthwaighte’s judgement in the matter was not yet available on Wednesday, after her order in the matter had been handed down.
In addition to awarding the amounts of N$300 000 and N$80 000 to Amushelelo and Nauyoma, Bassingthwaighte ordered the defendants in the matter to pay the legal costs of the two activists, who were represented by lawyer Kadhila Amoomo.
