Detained protest leader Michael Amushelelo, who has been held in custody for nearly five months, will be appealing to the Supreme Court in a further bid to be granted bail, his lawyer, Kadhila Amoomo, said yesterday.
Amoomo said he had instructions from Amushelelo to appeal to the Supreme Court after a bail appeal by his client was dismissed in the Windhoek High Court.
Amushelelo (32), fellow activist Dimbulukeni Nauyoma and Popular Democratic Movement parliamentarian Inna Hengari were arrested on 21 March in Windhoek, where they were set to take part in a public demonstration about Namibia’s high unemployment rate.
They were arrested after the police prohibited the demonstration from going ahead.
Hengari was released on bail in an amount of N$5 000 after three days in police custody, while Nauyoma was also granted bail in an amount of N$5 000, following a bail hearing in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura.
A bail application by Amushelelo was turned down in the same court a month after his arrest, and he has remained in custody since then.
Amushelelo, Nauyoma and Hengari are charged with counts of public violence, incitement to public violence and malicious damage to property.
The magistrate who dismissed Amushelelo’s application to be granted bail noted that he had been granted bail with conditions attached in two previous cases also involving allegations of public violence.
The magistrate remarked that she did not foresee any suitable conditions that could be attached to his release on bail to deter him from committing similar offences.
During the hearing of Amushelelo’s appeal three weeks ago, Amoomo argued that it would amount to an infringement of his right to liberty, which is protected in the Constitution, to keep him in custody. Amoomo suggested that the court should grant him bail in an amount of N$2 000, with conditions attached to his release.
State advocate Johannes Kalipi argued that Amushelelo has shown he has a propensity to commit similar offences, and that it would prejudice the ends of justice to grant him bail.
In the appeal judgement delivered yesterday, judge Naomi Shivute concluded that the court did not find any misdirection on the part of the magistrate in her decision to refuse bail.
Shivute noted that except for two cases involving alleged public violence in which he has been released on bail, Amushelelo is also free on bail in a pending High Court case involving charges of fraud and money laundering, and in respect of a pending appeal against a judgement in which he was found guilty of culpable homicide.
Nauyoma and Hengari do not face charges in other pending cases, she said.
From testimony given during Amushelelo’s bail hearing there was no doubt that Amushelelo and his co-accused were the leaders of a group of protesters that the police had ordered to disperse, Shivute also said.
She added that, considering the section of the Riotous Assemblies Act of 1956 under which Amushelelo and his co-accused were charged, it was evident that the state showed it has a strong case against Amushelelo for the purpose of considering his request to be granted bail.
The rights to liberty and to be presumed innocent are important fundamental rights, but are not absolute, may be limited and are subject to exceptions, Shivute continued.
She concluded that Amushelelo did not show that he is the right candidate to be released on bail.
Acting judge Philanda Christiaan agreed with Shivute’s judgement.
Amushelelo, Nauyoma and Hengari are scheduled to go on trial in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura on 25 August.
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