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The Namibian government can not use the pretentions of national security and secrecy to prevent the country's courts from determining whether the information can be published in the media, the Supreme Court said in a landmark ruling on press freedom and freedom of expression. the public's right to be kept informed.
The court rejected the argument that the country's courts had to accept the government's assertion that the information concerned national security and should therefore be kept secret. The court on Friday dismissed the appeal filed by the government and the central intelligence agency of Namibia against a High Court judgment issued last June.
In the judgment rendered on Friday, Deputy Chief Justice Petrus Damaseb found that the NCIS government and chief executive did not prove that the information that the weekly The Patriot had the intention to publish last year had been obtained illegally or that it was secret information. places, or a question of national security.
Having failed to prove this, the NCIS government and general manager failed to justify granting an order prohibiting the publication of an article in the newspaper. The Patriot last April, said the Associate Chief Justice.
The article that the chief executive of NCIS, Philemon Malima, and the government were trying to prevent the publication of the book was about the government's acquisition of two farms and a house that would have were used by former members of the spying agency and questionable donations of N $ 1.1 million that an association of former service members. spying received from NCIS.
The government and the head of the NCIS appealed to the Supreme Court after High Court Judge Harald Geier, in June, dismissed their ban request to prevent The Patriot from publishing an article on the issue. 39, alleged use of public funds by espionage services.
In his judgment, Judge Geier also ruled that the NCIS could not rely on a covert cover to avoid being subject to judicial review.
In the Supreme Court's appeal judgment, Damaseb ACJ stated that the court did not agree with the government's argument that a court had not the power to invalidate the designation by the NCIS of a secret and a national security issue. He said: "The idea that national security issues elude scrutiny does not correspond to the values of an open and democratic society based on the rule of law and legality."
However, he added, the courts would have a duty to protect secret government information if it had been decided to maintain the confidentiality of this information.
However, in the case where the court considered the case, the government's argument that the publication of information relating to the NCIS should be removed without exception, even if that information disclosed a crime, would could be maintained, Judge Damaseb said.
Sylvester Mainga and Dave Smuts JJ.A. concurring with the Deputy Chief Justice's judgment, the court dismissed the appeal of the NCIS government and executive director and ordered them to pay the costs of the Patriot.
Senior Advisor Vincent Maleka, along with Dennis Khama and Deputy Prosecutor Mathias Kashindi, represented the government and the NCIS at the hearing of the appeal in March. Norman Tjombe represented the Patriot.
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