POLITICAL TRIALS
The trial of Andreas HEITA, Salomé PAULUS, Andreas Gideon TONGENI, Gabriel MATHEUS, Martin AKWEENDA, Johannes NANGOLO, Petrus Kakede NANGOMBE and Sakarias Balakius NAMWANDI was due to resume in the Windhoek Supreme Court on 16 February 1987.
The eight men face charges under the Terrorism Act and a number of common laws in connection with SWAPO's armed struggle. The proceedings were adjourned in early December after more than a month of evidence for the state. In common with most political trials in Namibia and South Africa the prosecution case has relied on evidence obtained under duress of various kinds.
Some witnesses told of being assaulted during interrogation while others were 'warned' as accomplices. Many had been held for over a year before being called to testify. Nathaniel AMUKOGO, the owner of a garage in Ononjokwe, near Ondangua, implicated three of the defendants - Heita, Paulus and Akweenda. He told the court that in March 1985 he drove to Tsumeb with Akweenda, and someone he knew only as James, with explosives hidden in the door panels of his car. They aborted the trip before reaching Tsumeb because the bumpy road could have caused the explosives to detonate. He transferred the explosives to a van where they remained hidden until his arrest on 1 September 1985.
Alfons SHIKONGENI, a security officer at the CDM mine in Oranjemund, gave evidence only after being warned as an accomplice. His knowledge of the activities of SWAPO combatants dated from 1980. According to his evidence, in 1984 he was asked to take a tyre filled with explosives from the Ovambo bantustan where he was on leave, to Matheus' home in Katutura. Shikongeni was arrested at Oranjemund on 6 September 1985 and taken to the police offices where he was 'pushed around by the police' and 'ordered to speak'. He was then flown to Oshakati for interrogation.
The defence lawyer, Theo Frank, strongly challenged the evidence of state witness Gideon Petrus INDONGO (24) who alleged that he had been abducted from his house in Okulungo in March 1986 and taken to Angola against his will by a group of combatants who apparently included Heita and Paulus. Under cross-examination he admitted having two relatives in the security branch although he denied they were his brothers, as alleged.
Another witness and alleged accomplice was Letta ALUMBUNGU (24), a school teacher from Okaputa, Onamphadi in the Ovambo bantustan. She stated that she knew seven of the eight accused and had been instructed in the priming and storage of explosives.
A prisoner-of-war, Josef GABRIEL (24), told the court that he remained a staunch combatant although held captive by the enemy. He admitted undergoing military training in Angola and was used by the state to identify and demonstrate various arms and explosives. He emphasised that SWAPO had plenty of recruits for its army and that it was against their policy to attack civilian targets.
Two witnesses in particular drew attention to the brutal nature of the duress applied by the armed forces to obtain the evidence they required. Leonard AUALA, a schoolboy who was aged only 15 when detained in 1985, told the court how he was fetched from school. His head was forced into a hole in the ground and he was threatened with being buried alive unless he gave information. His mother, Selma Auala, was similarly assaulted and her arm was broken. Ammunition was reportedly discovered buried near her homestead.
Reinhard Natangwe PAULUS told of assaults on the defendants. After his detention he was taken to Mururani in the Kavango bandustan where he saw some of the accused wearing blood-stained shirts. They told him they had been assaulted by the police.
NAFTALI
Leonard NAFTALI (26), who was captured by UNITA forces in southern Angola, was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment in the Windhoek Supreme Court on 28 November after being convicted of murder with extenuating circumstances. Naftali pleaded not guilty and stated he was a PLAN combatant. He said that he was among a group who attacked a military base at Omungwelumwe on 16 March 1986. He was wounded in the leg and became separated from his comrades. By 20 March he had reached a homestead at Ohadiva where the alleged offence took place.
Contradictory evidence about the events at Ohadiva came from Naftali and statements by two state witnesses. Naftali said he called out for help at the home, but one of the residents, Vatilifa Haimbala, shot him in his wounded leg with a bow and arrow. He killed the man in self-defence. Haimbala's widow, Saima Henghomo and his niece Johanna Paulus both made statements which were handed in to the court. Justice Hendler said he had 'some difficulties' with the statements which had clearly not been taken down in accordance with correct procedure. Under cross-examination the investigating officer and a special constable who acted as interpreter admitted that the original statements had been destroyed and new ones typed at Oshakati. Officer du Pont conceded that the documents were not sworn affidavits - indeed he had even added his own words so they would make more sense in Afrikaans. When questioned about certain omissions du Pont said he was 'just writing down' what the interpreter was telling him. From the newspaper report it did not seem that the women were called to testify in person even though their statements had been discredited.
Naftali's statement told how he struggled away from the homestead with the arrow still embedded in his leg. Once over the Angolan border he was ambushed and captured by a joint SADF-Unita Force. Unita held him for two weeks during which he was tortured - his head was buried in the ground until he fainted, then he was revived and tortured again. He was eventually handed over to the South African Police who took him to Oshakati where charges were preferred.
Justice Hendler said he rejected the accused's evidence as he had not made a good impression on the court. He found that Naftali woke up Johanna Paulus when he approached the homestead. She became frightened and screamed, bringing her uncle and cousin to the door of her sleeping place. Naftali fired a shot through the closed door killing her uncle. He was acquitted on a charge of attempted rape of Johanna Paulus but given an additional three months for common assault.
NDJOZE
Kavee NDJOZE (26), a SWAPO activist from Katutura, was acquitted in the Windhoek Magistrates' Court in early December of assisting people to leave the country illegally or, alternatively, having taken people out of Namibia without the relevant documents.
The charges arose from an incident in December 1985 when eight school students left Namibia for Botswana.
Ndjoze was acquitted after the magistrate ruled that none of the evidence before the court proved his involvement in the alleged offence. An incriminating statement by Ndjoze was earlier ruled inadmissable on the grounds that it had been obtained under duress.
TEACHERS DETAINED
During January newspapers reported a number of new detentions in the western part of northern Namibia. Twelve detentions were confirmed by police at Oshakati. Seven of those held were teachers - Eva SHANINGI, Julia NUULIMBA, Taimi ENDJALA (KUUME), Mariana PHILLIPUS, Martin BAKUS, Frans NANGOMBE and Abraham SHIVUTE - who were detained around 15-16 January. Also held at about the same time were Elizabeth AMUKWAYA, aged 60, as well as Thomas Bashu MWANDI, a school cook, Abner LUKAS, a businessman, and Isak SHOOME, a hospital worker. Ruben EDMUTH was said to have been held since 28 November. Church and legal sources said the detainees were being held under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act which permits indefinite detention for interrogation. Police in Windhoek also confirmed the detention of Gideon ASSER on 6 January and said he was not being held by the security branch.
On 22 January Brigadier Thomas THOMASSE, the head of the security branch, confirmed the detention of the following eight people under Proclamation AG9 - Eva SHANINGI, Julia JASON, Taime ENDJALA (KUUME), Isak SHOOME, Abner IYAMBO, Martin IITA, Frans NANGOMBE and Thomas Bashu SHETWADHA. Thomasse said it was 'difficult to say at this stage' the total number of detainees.
