The Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) has condemned the Namibian Correctional Service (NCS) for allegedly placing the activist and investment scheme operator Michael Amushelelo in solitary confinement.
In a press statement issued on Monday afternoon, the NEFF said an alleged decision by the prison authorities to subject Amushelelo to solitary confinement was alarming and that the party was calling for his release.
This comes after Amushelelo’s lawyers said on Monday morning that he was subject to solitary confinement.
“It is deeply distressing that such measures are being imposed on an individual whose only ‘crime’ was organising an anti-unemployment demonstration,” the statement reads.
The NEFF called for the government to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding Amushelelo’s prolonged detention and the decision to subject him to solitary confinement.
“It is disheartening to witness the arrest and detention of activists advocating for social change while individuals responsible for heinous crimes, such as murderers and rapists, roam free,” said the NEFF.
Amushelelo, fellow activist Dimbulukeni Nauyoma and Popular Democratic Movement parliamentarian Inna Hengari were arrested in Windhoek on 21 March, after their alleged involvement in a public demonstration about unemployment in Namibia, which the police had prohibited from going ahead.
They are charged with counts of public violence, incitement to public violence and malicious damage to property.
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