Long jail terms for ‘traitors’

THE 10 men convicted in the second Caprivi high treason trial will pay a severe price for their involvement in a plot to secede the Caprivi Region from Namibia: a combined 314 years of imprisonment.

Seven of the 10 men, who were all convicted on a charge of high treason in the High Court in Windhoek on Tuesday last week, were sentenced to 32 years’ imprisonment each yesterday. Acting Judge John Manyarara sentenced the other three to a 30-year jail term each.Accounting for the difference in the sentences was the length of time the 10 had spent in custody before they were convicted.One of the three sentenced to a 30-year term, Frederick Isaka Ntambilwa (45), has been in custody for five years – since July 2002.The other two men sentenced to 30-year terms, Hoster Simasiku Ntombo (44) and John Mazila Tembwe (40), have been in custody since September 2002.The seven who received 32-year jail terms were in custody either since December 6 2002 – in the case of Boster Mubuyaeta Samuele (39) and Alex Mafwila Liswani (47) – or since December 12 2003, in the case of Progress Kenyoka Munuma (46), Shine Samulandela Samulandela (41), Manepelo Manuel Makendano (55), Alex Sinjabata Mushakwa (45), and Diamond Samuzala Salufu (57).The sentencing took place in the absence of the 10.They had been present in the dock until Acting Judge Manyarara took his place on the bench, but true to their pattern of behaviour in court throughout their trial, they started shouting slogans as soon as the court session started.”Viva Caprivi, viva!” the ten shouted, followed by a “viva Muyongo, viva!” and a repeat of the first line before Police officers bundled them out of the dock and down the stairs leading to the holding cells below the court and at the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court next door.During the sentencing Acting Judge Manyarara referred to just this sort of behaviour that had been seen in the dock on numerous occasions during the trial.He commented: “The accused went to extraordinary lengths to leave the court and society at large in no doubt that they had no regrets whatsoever about what they did and given another chance, they would all ‘return to the bush’ as the saying goes to pursue their dangerously misguided agenda.”In his verdict last week Acting Judge Manyarara convicted some of the 10 of high treason on the basis that they had been part of a group of members of an armed separatist organisation, the Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA), who had gone to Angola around October 1998 to acquire weapons and ammunition to be used by the CLA in the Caprivi Region.Others of the 10 were involved in an attempt to organise a regrouping and reactivation of the CLA in the Caprivi Region from April 2001 onwards, he found.Some of the 10 had been involved in both the Angola trip and the 2001 regrouping, while one of them, Manuel Makendano, had registered young recruits into the CLA around September and October 1998, it was also found.Whatever the acts each of the 10 had been involved in, their conduct was “equally reprehensible”, Acting Judge Manyarara said during the sentencing.”I find that all the accused participated equally as principal offenders in commission of high treason to secede Caprivi from Namibia by military force and the sentences passed must match the equal roles played by them,” he stated.”High treason is one of the most serious crimes anyone can commit in today’s world.Long prison sentences are called for in order to deter like-minded persons from emulating the accused and to give expression to the outrage of society,” he said.”The clear message must be that high treason will invariably be visited with severe punishment, as sure as night follows day.”In a cutting comment about the 10, he added: “These misguided individuals hope to be viewed as martyrs, but in truth they are just traitors, with no regard for the safety, security and stability of the Namibian state and its inhabitants.”In a country where the option of using peaceful and democratic means to achieve their aims was open to them, they had opted to use violence instead, he commented: “The lesson needs to be driven to them and like-minded persons that Namibia is a democracy in which political change can legitimately and peacefully be brought about through the polls at the ballot box.Instead, the accused conspired to unleash violence, obtained weapons from Angola and made other elaborate preparations for such violence in their hope of achieving their goal through the barrel of a gun.”The 10 are essentially the first people to be convicted of high treason in Namibia since the country became independent in 1990, Acting Judge Manyarara said.In the only previous case in which people have so far been convicted of high treason in Namibia after Independence, three white extremists who had played minor roles in a plot to steal arms from a Police arsenal with a plan to use these to overthrow the Government were sentenced in the High Court to “manifestly lenient sentences” ranging between an effective five years’ imprisonment and a wholly suspended prison term in September 1991, he recounted.Because only “the small fry” out of the group of people who had initially been charged in that case eventually went on trial in the High Court, that case provides no precedent for sentencing for the crime of high treason in Namibia, he said.The main part of the trial of the 10 Caprivi treason accused started in March last year.Most of the trial took place in the absence of the accused, who repeatedly told the court they had no interest in the matter, as they considered themselves to be Caprivians and not Namibians and thus not accountable to a Namibian court.Deputy Prosecutors General Danie Small and Annemarie Lategan conducted the prosecution.Acting Judge John Manyarara sentenced the other three to a 30-year jail term each.Accounting for the difference in the sentences was the length of time the 10 had spent in custody before they were convicted.One of the three sentenced to a 30-year term, Frederick Isaka Ntambilwa (45), has been in custody for five years – since July 2002.The other two men sentenced to 30-year terms, Hoster Simasiku Ntombo (44) and John Mazila Tembwe (40), have been in custody since September 2002.The seven who received 32-year jail terms were in custody either since December 6 2002 – in the case of Boster Mubuyaeta Samuele (39) and Alex Mafwila Liswani (47) – or since December 12 2003, in the case of Progress Kenyoka Munuma (46), Shine Samulandela Samulandela (41), Manepelo Manuel Makendano (55), Alex Sinjabata Mushakwa (45), and Diamond Samuzala Salufu (57).The sentencing took place in the absence of the 10. They had been present in the dock until Acting Judge Manyarara took his place on the bench, but true to their pattern of behaviour in court throughout their trial, they started shouting slogans as soon as the court session started.”Viva Caprivi, viva!” the ten shouted, followed by a “viva Muyongo, viva!” and a repeat of the first line before Police officers bundled them out of the dock and down the stairs leading to the holding cells below the court and at the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court next door.During the sentencing Acting Judge Manyarara referred to just this sort of behaviour that had been seen in the dock on numerous occasions during the trial.He commented: “The accused went to extraordinary lengths to leave the court and society at large in no doubt that they had no regrets whatsoever about what they did and given another chance, they would all ‘return to the bush’ as the saying goes to pursue their dangerously misguided agenda.”In his verdict last week Acting Judge Manyarara convicted some of the 10 of high treason on the basis that they had been part of a group of members of an armed separatist organisation, the Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA), who had gone to Angola around October 1998 to acquire weapons and ammunition to be used by the CLA in the Caprivi Region.Others of the 10 were involved in an attempt to organise a regrouping and reactivation of the CLA in the Caprivi Region from April 2001 onwards, he found.Some of the 10 had been involved in both the Angola trip and the 2001 regrouping, while one of them, Manuel Makendano, had registered young recruits into the CLA around September and October 1998, it was also found.Whatever the acts each of the 10 had been involved in, their conduct was “equally reprehensible”, Acting Judge Manyarara said during the sentencing.”I find that all the accused participated equally as principal offenders in commission of high treason to secede Caprivi from Namibia by military force and the sentences passed must match the equal roles played by them,” he stated.”High treason is one of the most serious crimes anyone can commit in today’s world.Long prison sentences are called for in order to deter like-minded persons from emulating the accused and to give expression to the outrage of society,” he said.”The clear message must be that high treason will invariably be visited with severe punishment, as sure as night follows day.”In a cutting comment about the 10, he added: “These misguided individuals hope to be viewed as martyrs, but in truth they are just traitors, with no regard for the safety, security and stability of the Namibian state and its inhabitants.”In a country where the option of using peaceful and democratic means to achieve their aims was open to them, they had opted to use violence instead, he commented: “The lesson needs to be driven to them and like-minded persons that Namibia is a democracy in which political change can legitimately and peacefully be brought about through the polls at the ballot box.Instead, the accused conspired to unleash violence, obtained weapons from Angola and made other elaborate preparations for such violence in their hope of achieving their goal through the barrel of a gun.”The 10 are essentially the first people to be convicted of high treason in Namibia since the country became independent in 1990, Acting Judge Manyarara said.In the only previous case in which people have so far been convicted of high treason in Namibia after Independence, three white extremists who had played minor roles in a plot to steal arms from a Police arsenal with a plan to use these to overthrow the Government were sentenced in the High Court to “manifestly lenient sentences” ranging between an effective five years’ imprisonment and a wholly suspended prison term in September 1991, he recounted.Because only “the small fry” out of the group of people who had initially been charged in that case eventually went on trial in the High Court, that case provides no precedent for sentencing for the crime of high treason in Namibia, he said.The main part of the trial of the 10 Caprivi treason accused started in March last year.Most of the trial took place in the absence of the accused, who repeatedly told the court they had no interest in the matter, as they considered themselves to be Caprivians and not Namibians and thus not accountable to a Namibian court.Deputy Prosecutors General Danie Small and Annemarie Lategan conducted the prosecution.