Windhoek High Court Judge George Coleman Wednesday dismissed a claim by 13 human trafficking accused that they are held in custody illegally. 

Toivo Herman, Fan Jia, Guo Linjie, Tango Muulyau, Haifeng Zheng, Li Zirian, Shi Zi Jun, Lin Shu Lin, Chen Wuyu, Neng Jun Wu, Wu Weiyang, Chen You Yi and Carlos Alejandro Batista Valdes applied for their release on the premise that they were only brought to court 48 hours after their arrest and are, thus, in custody unlawfully. 

Sisa Namandje, who appeared on behalf of 10 of the accused on instructions from Gilroy Kasper from MKK, brought an urgent application before the High Court to order the release of his clients. 

According to him, the arrests were effected on 3 October, and the accused were brought to court only on 6 October, outside the 48-hour threshold. 

Originally, they wanted to have an enquiry in the magistrate court but abandoned that idea when the divisional magistrate ordered that an enquiry be sent to the High Court on the proceedings of the first appearance of the accused when the issue of the 48- hour rule was first brought up. 

The magistrate who presided at that hearing indicated that the accused may bring an enquiry. 

However, when they re-appeared on 19 October, the new magistrate, Jozanne Klazen, informed them about the decision of the divisional magistrate, and they immediately approached the High Court in an urgent manner. 

According to judge Coleman, the matter is already before the High Court on special review, and it has been allocated a case number and a judge. 

He further said there was no direct challenge against the warrants of detention issued by the magistrate court before him – and as such, he cannot dwell on it. 

In the end, he said, it is more appropriate to yield to the special review procedure before the High Court. 

During the hearing, advocate James Diedericks, who represents the respondents with Sylvia Kahengombe, argued that the arrests were effected only on 4 October as evidenced by the officers in charge through affidavits. 

According to the affidavits, the operation started on 3 October, but due to the volume of devices to be attached, the investigation ran into the next day when the actual arrests were affected. 

Following the arrests, 163 computers, 350 mobile phones, six vehicles, 12 firearms, ammunition and cash of N$19 500 were recovered. 

The total amount of the alleged fraud amounts to US$465 405.56 (approximately N$8 814 781). 

It is alleged that the accused used at least 50 students to do their dirty work with threats to their families. 

According to the police, the students will not be charged but will testify against the accused. 

The accused are facing, among others, 98 counts of trafficking in humans, one count of fraud, one count of money laundering, one count of racketeering and one count of failure to pay tax. 

They are also charged with contravening the immigration law by overstaying in Namibia, working in Namibia without a permit and entering Namibia without a permit. 

He awarded costs on the scale of one instructing and two instructed legal practitioners to the State. 

Namandje was instructed by Morua, Kurtz, Kasper Inc. The accused remain in custody. 

- rrouth@nepc.com.na