Windhoek Supreme Court, where two SWAPO combatants were sentenced to 24 years' imprisonment each in October 1985, was due to be the scene of a new political trial in February. Seven Namibians face charges of 'terrorism' and 'promoting the aims of communism'. The men were allegedly detained in connection with sabotage attacks carried out in the north of the country.
The accused are Frans ANGULA (28), from Onanghulo in Oukwanyama; Norbert ANKOME (25) from Otshikutshatshipya in Uukwambi; Elkan Shoombe SIMON (21) from Onathingo; Bernadinus Petrus SHIKONGO (47) also from Otshikutshatshipya but employed as a school principal in Etayi; Desiderius ANKOME (26) a teacher at Valombola Technical College, Ongwediva; Erastus UUTONI (28) from near Oshakati and Vilho KASHILULU (21) from Olupandu in Oukwanyama.
The men have made two court appearances – in August in the Windhoek Magistrates' Court and in October in the Supreme Court. On neither occasion were they asked to plead to the charges. The postponement from 15 October 1985 to 4 February 1986 was at the request of the defence who required time to appoint a leading counsel. The prosecution was due to be led by Hendrik Liebenberg, a former attorney-general in South Africa. Now in private practice, Liebenberg has been 'assigned for special duties to the SWA High Court'. As well as preparing this case Liebenberg represented police interests in the inquest into the death of detainee Thomas Nikanor. Justice Strydom presided over the hearing – there is no trial by jury.
Some of the accused will have been in detention for over a year by the time the trial commences. In addition there are known to be many more people being held as potential witnesses for the prosecution. In November the Multi Pary Conference (MPC) administration said that some fifty-six people were being held under Proclamations AG9 and AG26. Of these, six were detained under AG26 and about fifty under AG9, most 'to appear as witnesses' in forthcoming trials. The conditions of those detained as potential state witnesses are harsh – in addition they have no right to a lawyer with whom to discuss their case. The decision as to who will be a defendant and who an accused may be made only after months spent under interrogation. In October it was reported that three Barclays Bank employees held since January were then regarded as potential witnesses.
The South African legal system – which has been extended to Namibia under the illegal occupation – makes frequent use of statements made after long periods spent in detention. Whether made after torture and assault or after long periods spent in solitary confinement, such statements are regarded as unreliable by international experts. Brutality against detainees in Namibia has been frequently documented. Thomas NIKANOR, detained at the same time as some of the accused, was found dead after five days in custody.
Although no details of the exact charges have been made available to the press, the men are said to have been involved in a number of sabotage attacks. In particular, the trial has been linked with the explosion at the Okatana service station, outside Oshakati, in April 1984 in which one Namibian and two United States representatives died. The two men, the head of the US Liaison Office in Windhoek and a Lieutenant-Colonel, were on a visit to the northern operational area. Press reports quoted police investigations as indicating that the device (a plastic bottle filled with explosives) had not been planted with the US personnel as targets: their death had been an 'unfortunate coincidence'. The area around the gas station was heavily militarised: it was 35 metres from a Koevoet post and half a kilometre from the headquarters of the South African security branch.
Police monitored the public closely during the court appearances – photographing them and, in the case of the Supreme Court, evicting those who did not conform to certain dress regulations. Bishop Boniface Hausiku was one of those asked to leave.
