Amushelelo ordered to stop defaming police chief

The High Court has ordered activist Michael Amushelelo to stop making defamatory statements about Namibian Police inspector general Joseph Shikongo.

In terms of an order given by acting judge Collins Parker in the Windhoek High Court on Wednesday, Amushelelo is restrained from making any further publications or utterances, both oral and in writing, about Shikongo that are similar to allegations he made on social media about the police chief in February last year.

Shikongo is suing Amushelelo for N$1 million in connection with the statements he made.

The order issued by Parker states that the interdict against Amushelelo will be in force until Shikongo’s defamation claim against him has been decided.

Shikongo sued Amushelelo in the High Court in February last year, after Amushelelo claimed on social media that the police were covering up evidence linked to a fatal road collision in which Shikongo was involved in northern Namibia near the end of December 2022.

In the defamation claim he filed in the High Court, Shikongo is alleging that Amushelelo falsely and maliciously implied that he tampered with the investigation of the accident, that he had no respect for the law, and is not a fit and proper person to be the inspector general of the Namibian Police, and that he had no respect for proper procedures in the investigation of the fatal accident.

The defamation claim remains pending before Parker, and has been postponed to 26 June for a pretrial hearing.

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