Staff Reporter
THE matter in which 13 suspects, mostly Chinese citizens, claimed that they were unlawfully detained for more than 48 hours, has been dismissed, and the suspects will be sent back to jail.
The suspects were arrested in early October and face charges of human trafficking, fraud, money laundering, and racketeering, amounting to about N$ 8.8 million. Allegedly, they detained close to 100 Namibian young people and had them defraud mostly American investors via internet platforms at an office building at Shapumba Towers in Ausspannplatz.
The accused include Chinese nationals Fan Jia (42), Guo Linzie (41), Zheng Haifeng (40), Li Zirian (36), Shi Zi Jun (33), Lin Shu Lin (35), Chen Wuyu (30), Neng Jun Wu (30), Wu Weiyang (22), and Chen You Yi (40), Namibian citizens Tango Muulyau (34), Mdanda Mamelodi Domingo (30), Toivo Herman (40), and Cuban Citizen Carlos Alejandro Batista Valdes (34).
The Lawyer representing the accused, Sisa Namandje, argued that the suspects were arrested on 3 October but only appeared before the court on 6 October 2023, which violated the rights of the accused to appear before a competent court of law within 48 hours. He added that this is in violation of Articles 7 and 11 of the constitution, which pertain to liberty and arbitrary arrests.
The arresting officers, through their written affidavits, maintained that the accused were only arrested on 4 October 2023 and that the police merely performed a raid at the houses and business premises of the accused on the night of 3 October 2023 before arresting them on 4 October.
In his judgment, Judge George Coleman said that the applicants are in detention under warrants of detention issued by a magistrate of the Windhoek Magistrates’ Court and that they were brought before the magistrate for the first time on Friday, 6 October 2023.
He added that on 23 October 2023, the Divisional Magistrate referred the matter to the High Court for a review in terms of s 20(1)(c) of the High Court Act, 1990. Section 20 of the High Court Act makes provision for the review of lower court proceedings by the High Court.
Judge Coleman said that as far as urgency is concerned, this application is in the nature of habeas corpus, in terms of which it is recognized that courts act drastically to protect the freedom of individuals against the abuse of power. “The quickest possible procedure is followed. Consequently, I am satisfied that the application is urgent by its very nature,” Judge Coleman said.
However, he noted that the fact that a special review is already before the High Court, in addition to the urgent application brought by Namandje, is a concern to him.
“That procedure is a direct reference to the hearing and ruling by the magistrate to perpetuate applicants’ detention to the High Court. The relief asked is for the proceedings of 6 October 2023 and 19 October 2023 before the magistrate to be set aside. This special review had been allocated a case number in the High Court, and a judge had been assigned to it. There is no direct challenge to the warrants of detention issued in respect of the applicants before me. In my view, it is more appropriate to yield to the special review procedure before the High Court,” Judge Coleman said.
He consequently ordered that the application be dismissed with costs and that the matter is removed from the roll and regarded as finalized.
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