Suspect dies in Police custody

MEMBERS of the Police’s Serious Crime Unit at Keetmanshoop allegedly beat a suspect, Makarius IIkali, to death on Monday, relatives of the deceased claim.

Ilkali was one of five men arrested in connection with alleged theft last weekend. The Namibian has learnt that another of the five suspects, Ben Basson, jumped from the first floor of the Police station during interrogation.He survived.Approached for comment yesterday, Regional Police Commander Josephat Abel said that the Police’s Complaints and Discipline Unit was investigating the allegations.However, he said, he would only be able to give full details of the incident on Monday.Inspector Isak Burger, who is heading the investigation, remained tight-lipped.”This is a very sensitive and complicated matter,” he added.Doctors at the hospital were said to be doing an autopsy yesterday to determine the cause of IIkali’s death.IIkali, Basson, Richard Isaak, Samson Ingo and a fifth suspect, known only as Andries, were arrested on theft charges on Saturday.Ingo, who is related to Iikali, says they were accused of stealing bank vault keys belonging to the local Standard Bank branch from a bank employee in the town’s Tseiblaagte residential area.Ingo alleged The Namibian that after their arrest, close to nine Serious Crime Unit members repeatedly hit them in the stomach with a wooden baton.”We were also shocked with an electric device on our genitals,” he claimed.Ingo claimed that Ilkali died in the office where the alleged torture took place.After the Police detected that the suspect had died, they continued to shock him with the electrical device, Ingo claimed.Richard Isaak repeated the same allegations to The Namibian.He said that he still couldn’t eat because of pain in his stomach and throat.Isaak added that he was in the process of pressing assault charges against the Policemen.The four surviving suspects have been released, but were warned that the Police are still probing charges of theft against them.Basson has been admitted in the Keetmanshoop State Hospital, where doctors say he will need at least two weeks of treatment.Yesterday, the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) issued a media statement condemning the incident.”The NSHR condemns all acts of torture and Police brutality and calls upon NamPol’s Inspector General, Lieutenant General Sebastian Ndeitunga, to speedily investigate the allegations and, where warranted, to ensure that the perpetrators are promptly brought to justice,” the statement said.The Namibian has learnt that another of the five suspects, Ben Basson, jumped from the first floor of the Police station during interrogation.He survived.Approached for comment yesterday, Regional Police Commander Josephat Abel said that the Police’s Complaints and Discipline Unit was investigating the allegations.However, he said, he would only be able to give full details of the incident on Monday.Inspector Isak Burger, who is heading the investigation, remained tight-lipped.”This is a very sensitive and complicated matter,” he added.Doctors at the hospital were said to be doing an autopsy yesterday to determine the cause of IIkali’s death.IIkali, Basson, Richard Isaak, Samson Ingo and a fifth suspect, known only as Andries, were arrested on theft charges on Saturday.Ingo, who is related to Iikali, says they were accused of stealing bank vault keys belonging to the local Standard Bank branch from a bank employee in the town’s Tseiblaagte residential area. Ingo alleged The Namibian that after their arrest, close to nine Serious Crime Unit members repeatedly hit them in the stomach with a wooden baton.”We were also shocked with an electric device on our genitals,” he claimed.Ingo claimed that Ilkali died in the office where the alleged torture took place.After the Police detected that the suspect had died, they continued to shock him with the electrical device, Ingo claimed.Richard Isaak repeated the same allegations to The Namibian.He said that he still couldn’t eat because of pain in his stomach and throat.Isaak added that he was in the process of pressing assault charges against the Policemen. The four surviving suspects have been released, but were warned that the Police are still probing charges of theft against them.Basson has been admitted in the Keetmanshoop State Hospital, where doctors say he will need at least two weeks of treatment.Yesterday, the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) issued a media statement condemning the incident.”The NSHR condemns all acts of torture and Police brutality and calls upon NamPol’s Inspector General, Lieutenant General Sebastian Ndeitunga, to speedily investigate the allegations and, where warranted, to ensure that the perpetrators are promptly brought to justice,” the statement said.