New bill to send criminals home

THE Minister of Safety and Security, Peter Tsheehama, yesterday introduced a bill that would allow Namibians convicted and sentenced in other countries to return home to serve prison time.

The same would also apply to foreigners returning to their native countries after being sentenced to jail in Namibia. In his motivation of the Transfer of Convicted Offenders Bill, Tsheehama said by adopting the legislation, Namibia would ease overcrowding in prisons while also allowing offenders’ families to play a role in the rehabilitation process.With rehabilitation key to offenders’ reintegration into society, Tsheehama said it would be better to have Namibian nationals serve their sentences in Namibia for crimes committed abroad.The Security Minister immediately set out to allay concerns raised by the Cabinet Committee on Legislation that the law could be open to abuse.Tsheehama said the ultimate authorisation for the transfer would lie with the Minister and that only convicted and sentenced persons would be eligible.He said the transfer could be refused if one of the two countries involved was not in agreement with the move.An offender would also not be eligible for pardon or reprieve from the President of the country to which he or she is transferred.This can only be done by the President of the country where the crime was committed and where the offender was convicted and sentenced.”The transfer of an offender does not change the nature of sentence and the offender will continue to serve it,” Tsheehama stressed.Implementing the legislation would be dependent on Namibia signing bilateral agreements with other countries.The Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain and Egypt have already indicated their willingness to do so.For the transfer to take place, judgement on the offender must have been finalised and no appeal or review still pending.”The underlying principle is that the enforcement of the sentence of a transferred offender shall be in accordance with the laws of the country to which the offender is transferred,” said Tsheehama.”The adoption of this legislation will be clear indication to the Namibian nation that this House cares not only for the Namibian nationals who are in Namibia but also for those who are outside this country and who happen to find themselves in conflict with the laws of the countries where they are.”Approached by The Namibian to find out how many Namibians were currently serving sentences abroad, Tsheehama said these statistics were still being compiled.He maintained that there were “many” foreigners serving time in Namibian jails, but said this information would still be provided to the House.Debate on this bill is set to continue next Tuesday with DTA President Katuutire Kaura indicating that he wanted to take the floor first.In his motivation of the Transfer of Convicted Offenders Bill, Tsheehama said by adopting the legislation, Namibia would ease overcrowding in prisons while also allowing offenders’ families to play a role in the rehabilitation process.With rehabilitation key to offenders’ reintegration into society, Tsheehama said it would be better to have Namibian nationals serve their sentences in Namibia for crimes committed abroad. The Security Minister immediately set out to allay concerns raised by the Cabinet Committee on Legislation that the law could be open to abuse.Tsheehama said the ultimate authorisation for the transfer would lie with the Minister and that only convicted and sentenced persons would be eligible.He said the transfer could be refused if one of the two countries involved was not in agreement with the move.An offender would also not be eligible for pardon or reprieve from the President of the country to which he or she is transferred.This can only be done by the President of the country where the crime was committed and where the offender was convicted and sentenced.”The transfer of an offender does not change the nature of sentence and the offender will continue to serve it,” Tsheehama stressed.Implementing the legislation would be dependent on Namibia signing bilateral agreements with other countries.The Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain and Egypt have already indicated their willingness to do so.For the transfer to take place, judgement on the offender must have been finalised and no appeal or review still pending.”The underlying principle is that the enforcement of the sentence of a transferred offender shall be in accordance with the laws of the country to which the offender is transferred,” said Tsheehama.”The adoption of this legislation will be clear indication to the Namibian nation that this House cares not only for the Namibian nationals who are in Namibia but also for those who are outside this country and who happen to find themselves in conflict with the laws of the countries where they are.”Approached by The Namibian to find out how many Namibians were currently serving sentences abroad, Tsheehama said these statistics were still being compiled.He maintained that there were “many” foreigners serving time in Namibian jails, but said this information would still be provided to the House.Debate on this bill is set to continue next Tuesday with DTA President Katuutire Kaura indicating that he wanted to take the floor first.