#Fishrot

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7 months ago

Swapo Documents Disprove Fishrot Conspiracy - Shanghala [Namibian] Former attorney general and minister of justice Sacky Shanghala says there are documents linked to his past membership of Swapo's central committee that show there was no conspiracy as alleged by the state in the Fishrot fishing quotas fraud, corruption and racketeering case.

#Namibia #Fishrot #Swapo #Corruption #Justice

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7 months ago

Fishrot Accused Fail to Challenge Judge's Appointment [Namibian] Three of the accused in the Fishrot fraud, corruption and racketeering case have failed with a legal challenge about the appointment of the former judge for their trial.

#Namibia #Fishrot #Corruption #Fraud #Justice

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7 months ago

High Court to decide on Shanghala’s Fishrot document request High Court to decide on Shanghala’s Fishrot document request NBC Online Thu, 08/21/2025 - 19:02

#Fishrot #Corruption #HighCourt #Justice #SackyShanghala

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7 months ago

Namibia Needs Skilled Investigators to Tackle High-Profile Corruption [Namibian] I have followed the recent bail applications related to both the Fishrot, and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia Fuelrot cases.

#Namibia #Corruption #Investigators #Fishrot #Fuelrot

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7 months ago

Judge to rule on Fishrot case decisions Judge to rule on Fishrot case decisions NBC Online Tue, 08/19/2025 - 12:59

#Fishrot #Justice #CourtDecision #LegalNews #Namibia

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8 months ago

Shanghala requests court to void fishrot case rulings Allexer Namundjembo Fishrot accused and former justice minister Sacky Shanghala has filed an application before the High Court to have all rulings made by former acting judge Moses Chinhengo in the fishrot case declared void. Shanghala argues that Chinhengo’s appointment was unconstitutional, which would render all his decisions in the matter invalid. Appearing before Judge Hannelie Prinsloo on Monday, Shanghala submitted that Chinhengo’s appointment did not comply with the constitutional procedures outlined in Article 82 and should therefore be set aside. He claimed that the appointment was made under the wrong sub-article and lacked legal standing from the outset. Shanghala also alleged that the 2019 arrests of 10 individuals in the fishrot case, just days before the general election, were part of an orchestrated attempt to unseat the ruling Swapo party. “This was a failed coup.Somebody was working hard so regime change could be done. It is the weaponising of the judicial and criminal justice system,” Shanghala told the court. centres on allegations that Icelandic fishing company Samherji paid bribes in exchange for access to Namibian fishing quotas, costing the state over N$300 million. Shanghala and former fisheries minister Bernard Esau are among the key accused. Although Chinhengo withdrew from the case last week, citing personal reasons, Shanghala insists that any decisions made by Chinhengo must be withdrawn. He questioned why Chinhengo, a Zimbabwean national aged 67, was appointed despite Article 82(4) setting the judicial retirement age at 65. While the Constitution allows for extensions up to age 70, Shanghala said there was no evidence that such an extension was properly granted. He also argued that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) failed to follow a transparent appointment process and did not provide a proper explanation for bypassing public procedures, which he said undermines judicial independence. “The correct constitutional provision, 82(3), was neither cited nor relied upon during the time of appointment. A subsequent invocation of a different provision cannot validate an act that was unauthorised ab initio,” Shanghala argued. Shanghala rejected claims that his application was filed too late, stating that legal proceedings had been ongoing and constrained by restrictions under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA). Responding on behalf of the JSC, advocate Nixon Marcus argued that Chinhengo’s appointment was lawful under Articles 82(2) and 82(3), which do not place age limits on acting judges. He said the matter was now moot since Chinhengo had recused himself and no longer posed a threat to Shanghala’s right to a fair trial. Despite this, Shanghala maintained that the initial appointment was flawed and that the court must declare all of Chinhengo’s rulings null and void. This is Shanghala’s third attempt to have Chinhengo removed. His first was a recusal application, which Chinhengo dismissed, saying there was no evidence of bias. The second challenge questioned the legality of Chinhengo’s appointment and was referred to the Supreme Court. The third is the current application to halt the fishrot trial, scheduled to resume on 4 August 2025, until the legality of the judge’s appointment is resolved. The court is expected to deliver a ruling in due course.

#Fishrot #Namibia #CourtCase #Justice #ConstitutionalLaw

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Whistleblowing International Network

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8 months ago

We are very disappointed by the ruling at London’s High Court in the legal fight of Icelandic artist ODEE's #Fishrot artwork, marking another blow in the battle for freedom of speech and artistic expression.

Read the full statement below.
bit.ly/44OFpXa

#Whistleblowing

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8 months ago

Fishrot judge Chinhengo steps down Fishrot judge Chinhengo steps down NBC Online Mon, 07/21/2025 - 18:41

#Fishrot #CorruptionTrial #Justice #LegalSystem #Chinhengo

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8 months ago

Shanghala files fresh bid to halt fishrot trial scheduled for August 4 Shanghala files fresh bid to halt fishrot trial scheduled for August 4 NBC Online Thu, 07/17/2025 - 13:22

#Fishrot #Trial #Justice #Namibia #SackyShanghala

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Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA)

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9 months ago

Our Money Drain report details the estimated $8.8 billion leaving Southern Africa every year through trade related illicit outflows like #Fishrot

Add to this illegitimate external debt payments & the region loses at least $30 billion every year

This is economic domination
shorturl.at/y6d1H

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Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA)

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9 months ago

London court hears appeal over fishrot-inspired art case – News Stand Justicia Shipena

Solidarity with @odeeart who used art to draw attention to the #Fishrot bribery scandal in #Namibia by an Icelandic company and now faces legal action

Western companies engage in mass corruption worldwide with impunity, leeching money from Southern Africa

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9 months ago

Former Samherji exec linked to Namibia 'Fishrot' case leads Omani tuna deal with Dutch giant P&P - Undercurrent News Former Samherji exec linked to Namibia 'Fishrot' case leads Omani tuna deal with Dutch giant P&P Undercurrent News

#Fishrot #Namibia #TunaDeal #Oman #Samherji

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The Signals Network

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9 months ago

TSN proudly joins a global coalition standing behind artist ODEE and whistleblower Jóhannes Stefánsson in their fight against powerful forces trying to silence them.

#WhistleblowerProtection #accountability #ArtisticFreedom #Fishrot #transparency #freeexpression #protectwhistleblowers #humanrights

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Whistleblowing International Network

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9 months ago

📰 Whistleblowing, artistic freedom: protecting the public interest

📑 Civil society letter of support for ODEE Appeal!

🖱️ Read more.
whistleblowingnetwork.org/News-Events/...?

#ODEE #Fishrot #Samherji #Court #Appeal #Whistleblowing

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10 months ago

Former Minister Shiimi Says Auction Off More Fishing Quotas to Boost Revenue, Fix Past Fishrot Abuses [Namibian] Former minister of finance Iipumbu Shiimi has urged the government to increase its auctioned fishing quotas, following a revenue of N$944 million generated over the past four years.

#Namibia #FishingQuotas #RevenueBoost #IipumbuShiimi #Fishrot

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10 months ago

Fishrot accused return to court over prison relocation Fishrot accused return to court over prison relocation NBC Online Thu, 06/05/2025 - 08:50

#Fishrot #Justice #CourtNews #Namibia #PrisonReform

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10 months ago

Supreme Court Clears Way for Esau to Use Frozen Funds for Fishrot Legal Defence [Namibian] The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by the prosecutor general (PG) against a High Court judgement in which former minister of fisheries and marine resources Bernhard Esau was allowed to get access to frozen funds to pay for his legal representation in the pending Fishrot trial.

#Namibia #SupremeCourt #Fishrot #LegalDefense #CourtJudgment

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11 months ago

Supreme court clears way for Esau to use frozen funds for Fishrot legal defence The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by the prosecutor general (PG) against a High Court judgement in which former minister of fisheries and marine resources Bernhard Esau was allowed to get access to frozen funds to pay for his legal representation in the pending Fishrot trial. Appeal judge Hosea Angula and acting judges of appeal Dave Smuts and Theo Frank dismissed the appeal by the PG after a hearing in the Supreme Court last week. According to a court order seen by The Namibian, reasons for the court’s decision will be given later. PG Martha Imalwa appealed to the Supreme Court after High Court judge Beatrix de Jager ordered in July last year that a total amount of about N$3.4 million should be released from Esau’s assets, which have been placed under a property restraint order in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act since November 2020. De Jager ordered that about N$1.2 million should be released from Esau’s restrained assets to pay his current legal expenses, and about N$2.2 million should be released from his assets, which have been placed under the control of curators, to cover his expected future legal expenses. The funds should be paid into a trust account of the law firm Metcalfe Beukes Attorneys, De Jager ordered. The law firm has been representing Esau in the Fishrot case about the alleged corrupt use of Namibian fishing quotas approved by Esau during his tenure as fisheries minister. Esau (67), who has been held in custody since being arrested near the end of November 2019, informed the High Court in a sworn statement that he has an outstanding bill of about N$1.2 million for legal services provided by Metcalfe Beukes Attorneys. In addition to that, defence lawyer Florian Beukes would require about 62 days to prepare for the Fishrot trial, and would charge about N$1.1 million – N$18 000 per day – for his trial preparations, Esau said in his affidavit. He also said Beukes’ additional fees to represent him during 60 days of proceedings in the trial would amount to about N$1.1 million. In a further sworn statement also filed at the court, Esau said he did not succeed with attempts to obtain state-funded legal representation. According to Esau, his assets under a property restraint order include his Omaheke region farm, valued at about N$17.9 million, a house in the Hochland Park area of Windhoek that is valued at about N$3.8 million, five motor vehicles with a combined value of about N$840 000, livestock and six bank accounts with a combined credit balance of about N$3.6 million. His liabilities include an amount of about N$1.2 million that he owes Metcalfe Beukes Attorneys, and a tax liability of about N$2.3 million, which he is disputing, Esau said in his affidavit. De Jager noted in her judgement that the court was informed there is close to N$3 million in a bank account from which Esau and his wife are not allowed to withdraw money, due to the restraint order. According to figures disclosed to the court, the value of Esau and his wife’s assets exceed their liabilities by far, and there are sufficient assets under the restraint order to cover Esau’s legal expenses, De Jager said. Beukes represented Esau in the Supreme Court appeal. The PG was represented by state advocates Mariette Boonzaier and Annerie Keulder. The Fishrot fraud, corruption and racketeering trial, in which Esau is one of 10 individual accused, is scheduled to continue in the High Court from 4 August. The post Supreme court clears way for Esau to use frozen funds for Fishrot legal defence appeared first on The Namibian.

#SupremeCourt #Fishrot #LegalDefense #Justice #Namibia

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11 months ago

Fishrot Accused Fail With Prison Move Case [Namibian] Seven of the men charged in the Fishrot fraud, corruption and racketeering case have again failed with an attempt to stop the prison authorities' decision to move five of them to a different section of Windhoek Correctional Facility.

#Fishrot #Namibia #Corruption #Fraud #Justice

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11 months ago

Fishrot accused fail with prison move case Seven of the men charged in the Fishrot fraud, corruption and racketeering case have again failed with an attempt to stop the prison authorities’ decision to move five of them to a different section of Windhoek Correctional Facility. The seven accused, as applicants in a case against Namibia’s prison authorities and the minister of home affairs, immigration, safety and security, did not comply with the High Court’s rules for applications in civil matters, judge Boas Usiku said in a judgement delivered in the Windhoek High Court yesterday. Usiku concluded that an urgent application which the seven accused filed against the minister and prison authorities in May last year, and which was struck from the court roll in June, remains struck from the roll. After the urgent application had been struck from the court roll due to a lack of urgency, the seven applicants amended the orders they were asking the court to make, but relied on the same court documents filed previously to continue with their case in the normal course and not on an urgent basis. Usiku stated in his judgement yesterday: “The applicants ought to have served the amended notice of motion on the respondents and provided them with the requisite time within which to file their notice of opposition, if any, followed by its answering affidavit et cetera, as per the rules of the court.” It was not proper for the applicants to have indicated that the respondents in the matter have already filed their answering affidavits, which was done in response to the urgent application in May last year, Usiku said. The seven applicants are former attorney general and justice minister Sacky Shanghala, former National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor) chief executive Mike Nghipunya, Shanghala’s business partner James Hatuikulipi, who is an ex-chairperson of Fishcor’s board of directors, Ricardo Gustavo, Pius Mwatelulo, Otneel Shuudifonya and Phillipus Mwapopi. They applied for an order to stop the prison authorities from transferring five of them from the section of Windhoek Correctional Facility where they have been held in custody to another part of the prison, where they are detained with more awaiting-trial detainees than in the section where they were kept previously. The prison authorities moved Hatuikulipi, Nghipunya, Gustavo, Mwatelulo and Shuudifonya to a part of the prison where they are held with the general population of awaiting-trial detainees at the start of May last year. Although they have been relocated to a different section, where they spend nights, they are allowed to spend days in the previous section where they were kept and where they have access to computers and the internet, which they have said are needed to prepare for their trial, the court was informed last year. According to the seven accused, the prison authorities’ decision to relocate some of them would cause damage and negatively affect their efforts to prepare their defence to the charges they are facing in their criminal case. Acting judge Moses Chinhengo, to whom the criminal case has been assigned, has ordered that the criminal trial should proceed from 4 August. The post Fishrot accused fail with prison move case appeared first on The Namibian.

#Namibia #Fishrot #Corruption #Justice #Fraud

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11 months ago

High Court to rule on dismissal of charges against Fishrot accused Van Wyk High Court to rule on dismissal of charges against Fishrot accused Van Wyk NBC Online Wed, 04/30/2025 - 08:17

#Fishrot #HighCourt #LegalNews #JusticeSystem #CriminalCharges

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11 months ago

Justice, Judiciary Eds Must Report On Fishrot Courtroom [Namibian] The executive directors (EDs) of the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations and the Office of the Judiciary should report to the High Court on actions they have taken to prepare a courtroom for the Fishrot fraud, corruption and racketeering trial.

#Justice #Judiciary #Fishrot #Corruption #Fraud

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1 year ago

Justice, judiciary EDs must report on Fishrot courtroom The executive directors (EDs) of the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations and the Office of the Judiciary should report to the High Court on actions they have taken to prepare a courtroom for the Fishrot fraud, corruption and racketeering trial. This was ordered by deputy judge president Shafimana Ueitele in a judgement delivered in the Windhoek High Court on Friday. Ueitele dismissed an application by three of the men accused in the Fishrot case – former attorney general and minister of justice Sacky Shanghala, James Hatuikulipi and Pius Mwatelulo – who were asking the court to issue an interdict that would stop the prosecutor general from continuing to prosecute them in the courtroom where proceedings in their criminal case have been taking place since September 2023. The three accused were asking the court to declare that the requirements for a fair trial cannot be met if their trial takes place in the courtroom on the grounds of Windhoek Correctional Facility where the dock for accused persons was previously enclosed by a metal grille that they described as a “burglar bar cage”. They further wanted the court to direct the Office of the Judiciary to remove the metal grille they complained about and to provide tables, chairs with backrests, Wi-Fi internet access, a lectern and electric points that they can use for their laptop computers in the courtroom. Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo also asked the court to declare that the taking of photographs and video recordings showing them in the grille-enclosed dock is a violation of their rights to dignity and a fair trial. The metal grille that enclosed the dock in the courtroom where proceedings in the Fishrot case have been taking place before acting judge Moses Chinhengo was removed shortly after Shanghala and his co-applicants filed their application about the courtroom facilities in September last year. According to Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo, their continued prosecution in the courtroom at Windhoek Correctional Facility would violate their dignity, their right to a fair trial and their right to be presumed innocent, as the metal grille created the impression that they are dangerous persons against whom the court and general public had to be protected, Ueitele noted in his judgement. Ueitele also noted that the issues they wanted the court to deal with in the order they applied for have been addressed by the Office of the Judiciary’s deputy executive director, Innocent Kandandu, in a sworn statement filed at the court. Kandandu informed the court that the metal grille the three accused were complaining about has been removed, electrical points are available in the courtroom to be used for the Fishrot trial, the accused have Wi-Fi access at the prison to enable them to prepare for their trial, and the process to make physical alterations to the courtroom to address other complaints by the accused has started. In his judgement, Ueitele said the undertakings made by Kandandu in his affidavit have addressed the complaints of Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo. “There are, therefore, no live issues in respect of the architectural design of the courtroom for this court to adjudicate on,” he said. He ordered that the undertakings must be carried out by the EDs of the justice ministry and the Office of the Judiciary, and the two EDs should provide a report to the court by 5 September on the action they have taken. Chinhengo ordered in February that the Fishrot trial must proceed from 4 August. Plea proceedings in the trial were concluded in December last year, with Chinhengo recording pleads of not guilty for all of the accused on all of the 42 charges they are facing. The post Justice, judiciary EDs must report on Fishrot courtroom appeared first on The Namibian.

#Justice #Judiciary #Courtroom #Fishrot #Corruption

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1 year ago

Judge orders executive directors to report on Fishrot court facilities The executive directors of justice and the Office of the Judiciary should report to the High Court on actions taken to prepare a courtroom to be used for the Fishrot fraud, corruption and racketeering trial. This was ordered by deputy judge president Shafimana Ueitele in a judgement delivered in the Windhoek High Court on Friday. Ueitele dismissed an application by three of the men accused in the Fishrot case who were asking the court to issue an interdict that would stop the prosecutor general from continuing to prosecute them in the courtroom of the High Court at Windhoek Correctional Facility, where proceedings in their criminal case have been taking place since September 2023. The three accused – former attorney general and minister of justice Sacky Shanghala, James Hatuikulipi and Pius Mwatelulo – were also asking the court to declare that the requirements for a fair trial cannot be met if their trial takes place in the courtroom where the dock for accused persons was previously enclosed by a metal grille that they described as a “burglar bar cage”. They further wanted the court to direct the Office of the Judiciary to remove the metal grille they complain about and to provide tables, chairs with backrests, Wi-Fi internet access, a lectern (special desk) and electric points they can use for their laptop computers in the courtroom on the grounds of Windhoek Correctional Facility. Ueitele noted in his judgement that the issues they wanted the court to deal with in the order they applied for have been addressed by the Office of the Judiciary’s deputy executive director, Innocent Kandandu, in a sworn statement filed at the court. Kandandu informed the court that the metal grille the three accused were complaining about has been removed, electrical points are available in the courtroom to be used for the Fishrot trial, the accused have Wi-Fi access at the court, and the process to make physical alterations to the courtroom to address other complaints by the accused has started. In his judgement, Ueitele said the undertakings made by Kandundu in his affidavit have addressed the complaints of Shanghala, Hatuikulipi and Mwatelulo. The undertakings must be executed by the executive directors of the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Judiciary, and the two executive directors should provide a report to the court on the action they have taken by 5 September, Ueitele ordered. The post Judge orders executive directors to report on Fishrot court facilities appeared first on The Namibian.

#Fishrot #NamibiaJustice #CorruptionTrial #HighCourt #FairTrial

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1 year ago

Fishrot accused await Ruling on courtroom conditions Fishrot accused await Ruling on courtroom conditions NBC Online Fri, 04/04/2025 - 08:49

#Fishrot #Courtroom #Namibia #Justice #LegalNews

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Jan Erasmus

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1 year ago

Icelandic fishing giant Samherji sues art student for spoofing corporate website High court told ‘culture-jammed’ apology for high-profile corruption scandal ‘did not qualify as parody’

This is rich, coming from a company that is heavily implicated in Namibia's biggest corruption scandal. #Fishrot #freedomofexpression

www.theguardian.com/world/2024/s...

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