No full name? Arrest that illegal immigrant!

A 17-YEAR-OLD resident of northern Namibia was freed from Police custody yesterday, five days after being detained as a suspected illegal immigrant because he had failed to recite his full name to an immigration officer at a roadblock.

High Court Judge Annel Silungwe was informed of Shefeni Daniel Linekela’s release yesterday afternoon, as Legal Assistance Centre lawyer Norman Tjombe was wrapping up his application to the Judge for an urgent order to let him go. The teenager had been freed at about 13h00, Gerson Narib, a lawyer attached to the Office of the Government Attorney, told the Judge.Narib arrived in the courtroom just as Tjombe was completing his request for an urgent interdict against the Minister of Home Affairs, the Ondangwa Police Station’s commander and senior immigration officials.Linekela is just one of scores of Namibians who have been stopped at Police and immigration roadblocks across the country in recent weeks and asked to produce proof of their identity.According to Tjombe, Namibians are not required by law to carry proof of their identity when travelling, but last Friday at Ondangwa officers at the roadblock insisted on seeing Linekela’s ID documents.Linekela’s grandmother, Ileni Martin, informed the court in an affidavit seeking her grandson’s release that he had presented a certified copy of his birth certificate to the officers.It gave all three of his names and his birthplace as Okathima Kanangolo, in the Osumati Region – where Martin also lives.In her statement she states that her son, who now lives in Walvis Bay, is Linekela’s father.He, too, was born in Namibia, according to Martin.She said Linekela was returning to Okathima Kanangolo from a visit to his father in Walvis Bay when he encountered the roadblock at Ondangwa.Martin swears that Linekela told her he was arrested for having made two mistakes when immigration officials questioned him at the roadblock.First he said his name was Shefeni Linekela, leaving out his middle name, and then he said Walvis Bay was his birthplace.Those errors led to his arrest on suspicion that he was an illegal immigrant in Namibia.Despite assurances from Martin that the boy is Namibian, immigration officials remained unconvinced and refused to release him from detention at the Ondangwa Police Station, her statement adds.An official maintained that her grandson did not give his correct names, Martin claims.She was also told that the boy claimed to have been born in Angola, she added.Addressing Judge Silungwe, Tjombe asserted that Linekela had been detained on “blatantly illegal and unconstitutional grounds”.It was obviously no crime to give an incomplete name or state a wrong place of birth, he said.Narib told the Judge that Linekela had been released on the advice of Government lawyers, so that immigration officials could first provide the Government Attorney’s Office with their documentation on Linekela’s Namibian residence status to assist the provision of legal advice.Upon learning of Linekela’s release, the court desisted from making any order.The question of who should bear the costs of yesterday’s case was stood over for later hearing.The teenager had been freed at about 13h00, Gerson Narib, a lawyer attached to the Office of the Government Attorney, told the Judge. Narib arrived in the courtroom just as Tjombe was completing his request for an urgent interdict against the Minister of Home Affairs, the Ondangwa Police Station’s commander and senior immigration officials. Linekela is just one of scores of Namibians who have been stopped at Police and immigration roadblocks across the country in recent weeks and asked to produce proof of their identity. According to Tjombe, Namibians are not required by law to carry proof of their identity when travelling, but last Friday at Ondangwa officers at the roadblock insisted on seeing Linekela’s ID documents. Linekela’s grandmother, Ileni Martin, informed the court in an affidavit seeking her grandson’s release that he had presented a certified copy of his birth certificate to the officers. It gave all three of his names and his birthplace as Okathima Kanangolo, in the Osumati Region – where Martin also lives. In her statement she states that her son, who now lives in Walvis Bay, is Linekela’s father. He, too, was born in Namibia, according to Martin. She said Linekela was returning to Okathima Kanangolo from a visit to his father in Walvis Bay when he encountered the roadblock at Ondangwa. Martin swears that Linekela told her he was arrested for having made two mistakes when immigration officials questioned him at the roadblock. First he said his name was Shefeni Linekela, leaving out his middle name, and then he said Walvis Bay was his birthplace. Those errors led to his arrest on suspicion that he was an illegal immigrant in Namibia. Despite assurances from Martin that the boy is Namibian, immigration officials remained unconvinced and refused to release him from detention at the Ondangwa Police Station, her statement adds. An official maintained that her grandson did not give his correct names, Martin claims. She was also told that the boy claimed to have been born in Angola, she added. Addressing Judge Silungwe, Tjombe asserted that Linekela had been detained on “blatantly illegal and unconstitutional grounds”. It was obviously no crime to give an incomplete name or state a wrong place of birth, he said. Narib told the Judge that Linekela had been released on the advice of Government lawyers, so that immigration officials could first provide the Government Attorney’s Office with their documentation on Linekela’s Namibian residence status to assist the provision of legal advice. Upon learning of Linekela’s release, the court desisted from making any order. The question of who should bear the costs of yesterday’s case was stood over for later hearing.