‘No special permission required to take pictures at Fishrot case’

The acting chief registrar of the High Court, Nicole Januarie, has confirmed that reporters are not required to obtain special permission to take photographs inside and outside courtrooms while the courts are not in session.

This comes after the judiciary came under fire after reporters were prevented from taking photographs while reporting on the Fishrotcase in the High Court at Windhoek Correctional Facility on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Reporters from Namibia Media Holdings, The Namibian and New Era were denied the right to take photographs, while the court was not in session, inside the courtroom where proceedings in the case were held on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, this restriction was extended and reporters were forbidden from taking photographs inside and outside the court.

Court reporters were reminded of the guide- lines of judge president Petrus Damaseb, and acting judge Moses Chinhengo on recording and broadcasting plea proceedings.

The regulations also prohibit the media from taking pictures of accused individuals and certain courtroom areas.
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Werner Menges on Wednesday applied for permission to carry out his work, including taking still photographs inside and outside the courtroom while the court is not in session, “as has been normal practice with reporting on court proceedings for many years”.

Januarie replied yesterday: “Kindly note that special permission to take photographs is not required and that you will be allowed to take photographs before and after court proceedings on 8 December.”