Swapo youth leader lashes out at ‘wrong judges’ in ‘our’ courts

A SWAPO leader and a Deputy Minister have come under fire for attacking Judge Elton Hoff over his ruling that 13 Caprivi treason suspects were illegally brought to Namibia and must therefore be released.

Lawyers and human rights organisations reacted with outrage at the personal attack on the judge, describing a statement made by the pair as undermining one of the most important pillars of Namibia’s constitutional democracy. The Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), Society of Advocates and National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) said attacks on the judgement amounted to contempt of court.Justice Hoff ruled that the 13 – including alleged masterminds of the August 2 1999 armed insurrection in favour of Caprivi’s secession from Namibia – were unlawfully brought into Namibia from Botswana and Zambia without extradition treaties being followed.As a result of what is being seen as abduction of the accused by Police and military officers, the Namibian court found it lacked jurisdiction to try them.Following intensive arguments from both the prosecution and the defence, Hoff based his ruling on Namibian and international treaties dealing with jurisdiction and the kidnapping of suspects.But Paulus Kapia, Swapo’s Youth League Secretary, launched a personal attack on the judge.He claimed that Hoff was trying to sabotage peace in the country.Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism, Petrus Ilonga, speaking on a radio phone-in programme, branded Hoff “disloyal and unpatriotic”, and said he should remember that his salary was paid by Government.Yesterday Kapia said he had been misquoted:”What I said is that it’s a wrong judge in the right court, that Elton Hoff is one of those wrong judges we have in this country and they are in the right court, because that is our court”.The Swapo youth leader said judges who did not rule according to the expectations of the majority of the population “must pack and go”.Ilonga told radio listeners:”What interests are they [judges] serving? Where is their loyalty to this country? They must know that they are paid by the Government to defend its interests, not criminality.They hate Swapo”.The LAC denounced Kapia’s statement as “perhaps the most scurrilous and malicious attack on the person and independence of the individual judge and the Namibian judiciary…”The Society of Advocates described the attack as unwarranted.The NSHR said the attacks showed a “systematic effort to rid this country of an independent judicial system.In the beginning in Zimbabwe there was also an independent judiciary.Is there one now?” Both the LAC and Society of Advocates called for stern action to be taken against Kapia in particular to prosecute him for contempt of court.”It is our concern that failure to do so will encourage others to similarly undermine the independence of the judiciary and ultimately its status under the Constitution,” said the Society of Advocates.”This would have the inevitable consequence that the separation of powers and the rule of law, both cardinal values of our Constitution, will be eroded, paving the way for executive domination and the weakening of Namibia as a constitutional state”.The Society of Advocates also criticised the Police for rearresting the suspects soon after it was ordered that they be freed.Kapia yesterday maintained that Hoff himself should have used other means to ensure the suspects remained locked up and under continuing prosecution “instead of making them to go free”.If he was not able to pursue the case according to the wishes “of the majority of this country”, said Kapia, the Judge should have recused himself or “surrendered the case to other judges”.Judges last came under vociferous Swapo and Government attacks in 2000 when Government defied a court order to release a former Unita representative, Jose Domingos Sikunda.The Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), Society of Advocates and National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) said attacks on the judgement amounted to contempt of court. Justice Hoff ruled that the 13 – including alleged masterminds of the August 2 1999 armed insurrection in favour of Caprivi’s secession from Namibia – were unlawfully brought into Namibia from Botswana and Zambia without extradition treaties being followed. As a result of what is being seen as abduction of the accused by Police and military officers, the Namibian court found it lacked jurisdiction to try them. Following intensive arguments from both the prosecution and the defence, Hoff based his ruling on Namibian and international treaties dealing with jurisdiction and the kidnapping of suspects. But Paulus Kapia, Swapo’s Youth League Secretary, launched a personal attack on the judge. He claimed that Hoff was trying to sabotage peace in the country. Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism, Petrus Ilonga, speaking on a radio phone-in programme, branded Hoff “disloyal and unpatriotic”, and said he should remember that his salary was paid by Government. Yesterday Kapia said he had been misquoted:”What I said is that it’s a wrong judge in the right court, that Elton Hoff is one of those wrong judges we have in this country and they are in the right court, because that is our court”. The Swapo youth leader said judges who did not rule according to the expectations of the majority of the population “must pack and go”. Ilonga told radio listeners:”What interests are they [judges] serving? Where is their loyalty to this country? They must know that they are paid by the Government to defend its interests, not criminality. They hate Swapo”. The LAC denounced Kapia’s statement as “perhaps the most scurrilous and malicious attack on the person and independence of the individual judge and the Namibian judiciary…” The Society of Advocates described the attack as unwarranted. The NSHR said the attacks showed a “systematic effort to rid this country of an independent judicial system. In the beginning in Zimbabwe there was also an independent judiciary. Is there one now?” Both the LAC and Society of Advocates called for stern action to be taken against Kapia in particular to prosecute him for contempt of court. “It is our concern that failure to do so will encourage others to similarly undermine the independence of the judiciary and ultimately its status under the Constitution,” said the Society of Advocates. “This would have the inevitable consequence that the separation of powers and the rule of law, both cardinal values of our Constitution, will be eroded, paving the way for executive domination and the weakening of Namibia as a constitutional state”. The Society of Advocates also criticised the Police for rearresting the suspects soon after it was ordered that they be freed. Kapia yesterday maintained that Hoff himself should have used other means to ensure the suspects remained locked up and under continuing prosecution “instead of making them to go free”. If he was not able to pursue the case according to the wishes “of the majority of this country”, said Kapia, the Judge should have recused himself or “surrendered the case to other judges”. Judges last came under vociferous Swapo and Government attacks in 2000 when Government defied a court order to release a former Unita representative, Jose Domingos Sikunda.