Namibia to revisit Lubwoski murder

THE assassination of prominent lawyer and Swapo member Anton Lubowski more than 18 years ago is being looked into again by Namibia’s Prosecutor General.

With South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) set to take a decision on whether to reopen an investigation into Lubowski’s murder or to launch a prosecution in connection with the case, Namibian Prosecutor General Martha Imalwa has also decided to revisit the matter, Imalwa said yesterday. Lubowski was assassinated in front of his house in Windhoek’s Sanderburg Street on the evening of September 12 1989.Although an Irish national, Donald Acheson, was initially charged in connection with the murder and a first inquest into Lubowski’s death ended in 1994 with a finding that Acheson and a group of members of a secret organisation linked to the South African military, the Civil Co-operation Bureau, had been responsible for planning and carrying out the assassination, no one has so far been prosecuted.Imalwa told The Namibian that the NPA had not contacted her so far in connection with the Lubowski murder.She said after seeing a media report about the possibility of the NPA taking action on the matter, she had tried to contact her South African counterpart to find out what the situation was and to offer her office’s assistance to the NPA if needed, but she had not yet been able to get hold of the NPA’s Acting Director.She said she would still be in touch with the NPA to see whether her office and the NPA could work together on the case.Her office had received a complaint from someone alleging that there was relevant information that had not been placed before the Judges who presided at inquests into Lubowski’s death, Imalwa said.As a result of this, she said, she decided to again go through the material her office has on the Lubowski case in order to make her own evaluation of the matter, and to see if the complaint received by her office has merit and what action the Namibian prosecuting authorities can still take on the case.Voluminous documentation on the case is standing in Imalwa’s office in 10 archival boxes, five bound volumes of further documentation, and additional files of material.As in South Africa, though, no decision that could result in action being taken to bring Lubowski’s murderers to book has been taken in Namibia so far.In South Africa, no decision on whether to reopen the investigation of Lubowski’s murder or prosecute anyone in connection with the crime has been taken yet, the NPA’s spokesperson, Tlali Tlali, stressed this week.Tlali indicated to The Namibian on Tuesday that a decision on this score is on the cards, though, with the Lubowski murder case set to be on the agenda of an NPA task team looking into the investigation and prosecution of matters that were dealt with by South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).The team, which will be taking a decision on whether any action is to be taken on the Lubowski case, will have a first meeting this year.The date when the team will have this meeting is not known yet.None of the people implicated in the murder of Lubowski applied to the TRC to be given amnesty for the crime.In the first inquest into Lubowski’s death, now-retired High Court Judge Harold Levy found that the evidence aired in the inquest indicated that the Civil Co-operation Bureau had Lubowski murdered.Judge Levy found that the evidence indicated that Acheson carried out the killing while CCB Managing Director Pieter Johan (Joe) Verster and CCB agents Daniel Ferdinand du Toit (also known as Staal Burger), Leon Andre (‘Chappie’) Maree, Ferdi Barnard, Carel Casteling (‘Calla’) Botha, Abram (‘Slang’) van Zyl, Wouter Basson, Johan Niemoller and Charles Neelse, aka Wildschudt, had also been involved in the crime.Imalwa’s predecessor as Prosecutor General, Hans Heyman, made no secret of his disagreement with Judge Levy’s inquest findings, and even after that first inquest had been finalised, no action was taken to have the implicated suspects extradited from South Africa to be put on trial in Namibia.Heyman was severely criticised in Judge Levy’s inquest ruling for having withdrawn the charge against Acheson when two other suspects whom Heyman wanted to prosecute with the Irishman – Staal Burger and Chappie Maree – could not be traced and brought to Namibia in time to be put on trial with Acheson.Heyman eventually had a second inquest held before Judge Nic Hannah in early 1998, but no major progress was made with this process and Judge Hannah concluded the second inquest with a finding that there was no evidence before him that indicated that there was any reason to differ from the findings made by Judge Levy.Lubowski was assassinated in front of his house in Windhoek’s Sanderburg Street on the evening of September 12 1989.Although an Irish national, Donald Acheson, was initially charged in connection with the murder and a first inquest into Lubowski’s death ended in 1994 with a finding that Acheson and a group of members of a secret organisation linked to the South African military, the Civil Co-operation Bureau, had been responsible for planning and carrying out the assassination, no one has so far been prosecuted.Imalwa told The Namibian that the NPA had not contacted her so far in connection with the Lubowski murder.She said after seeing a media report about the possibility of the NPA taking action on the matter, she had tried to contact her South African counterpart to find out what the situation was and to offer her office’s assistance to the NPA if needed, but she had not yet been able to get hold of the NPA’s Acting Director. She said she would still be in touch with the NPA to see whether her office and the NPA could work together on the case.Her office had received a complaint from someone alleging that there was relevant information that had not been placed before the Judges who presided at inquests into Lubowski’s death, Imalwa said.As a result of this, she said, she decided to again go through the material her office has on the Lubowski case in order to make her own evaluation of the matter, and to see if the complaint received by her office has merit and what action the Namibian prosecuting authorities can still take on the case.Voluminous documentation on the case is standing in Imalwa’s office in 10 archival boxes, five bound volumes of further documentation, and additional files of material.As in South Africa, though, no decision that could result in action being taken to bring Lubowski’s murderers to book has been taken in Namibia so far.In South Africa, no decision on whether to reopen the investigation of Lubowski’s murder or prosecute anyone in connection with the crime has been taken yet, the NPA’s spokesperson, Tlali Tlali, stressed this week.Tlali indicated to The Namibian on Tuesday that a decision on this score is on the cards, though, with the Lubowski murder case set to be on the agenda of an NPA task team looking into the investigation and prosecution of matters that were dealt with by South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).The team, which will be taking a decision on whether any action is to be taken on the Lubowski case, will have a first meeting this year.The date when the team will have this meeting is not known yet.None of the people implicated in the murder of Lubowski applied to the TRC to be given amnesty for the crime.In the first inquest into Lubowski’s death, now-retired High Court Judge Harold Levy found that the evidence aired in the inquest indicated that the Civil Co-operation Bureau had Lubowski murdered.Judge Levy found that the evidence indicated that Acheson carried out the killing while CCB Managing Director Pieter Johan (Joe) Verster and CCB agents Daniel Ferdinand du Toit (also known as Staal Burger), Leon Andre (‘Chappie’) Maree, Ferdi Barnard, Carel Casteling (‘Calla’) Botha, Abram (‘Slang’) van Zyl, Wouter Basson, Johan Niemoller and Charles Neelse, aka Wildschudt, had also been involved in the crime.Imalwa’s predecessor as Prosecutor General, Hans Heyman, made no secret of his disagreement with Judge Levy’s inquest findings, and even after that first inquest had been finalised, no action was taken to have the implicated suspects extradited from South Africa to be put on trial in Namibia.Heyman was severely criticised in Judge Levy’s inquest ruling for having withdrawn the charge against Acheson when two other suspects whom Heyman wanted to prosecute with the Irishman – Staal Burger and Chappie Maree – could not be traced and brought to Namibia in time to be put on trial with Acheson.Heyman eventually had a second inquest held before Judge Nic Hannah in early 1998, but no major progress was made with this process and Judge Hannah concluded the second inquest with a finding that there was no evidence before him that indicated that there was any reason to differ from the findings made by Judge Levy.