Police have dropped charges against seven men accused of involvement in a secessionist rebellion in Namibia’s remote northeastern Caprivi area in 1999, agencies reported on Tuesday. According to the reports three of the men were in custody for 21 months before the charges of high treason, sedition and murder were dropped on Monday.
Charges against another four suspects, who were released on bail in September, were also dropped. The reports said that another 126 suspects were still to stand trial in the High Court for participating in the rebellion, which left 16 people dead before it was crushed by the military.
A pre-trial hearing has been scheduled from 18-20 June.
Meanwhile, ‘The Namibian’ said on Tuesday that several of the those released have accused the security forces of torture. It quoted one of the men, Charles Samboma, as saying that he had been detained at a military base for two days, where he was whipped and forced to sign a false confession. Two other detainees are each suing the ministers of home affairs and defence saying they were unlawfully arrested and assaulted.
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