Family members of the detained fishrot suspects held a silent protest this morning in front of the Windhoek Correctional Facility.
The group gathered there, hoping to catch the attention of Namibian Correctional Service (NCS) officials and amplify their request.
A team of prosecutors and investigators from Iceland is on a visit to Namibia to probe the alleged involvement of Icelandic citizens in the Fishrot scandal.
The Anti-Corrpution Commission (ACC) says the team arrived in Namibia last Monday and will return to Iceland tomorrow.
Former Fisheries Minister Bernhardt Esau is set to spend another Christmas in the confines of the Windhoek Correctional Facility, as High Court Judge David Munsu ruled that he would remain in custody pending trial.
Judge Moses Chinhengo has ruled that the Fishrot accused will proceed with the plea-taking, even in the absence of Bernhardt Esau's lawyer, Florian Beukes, who is on medical leave until December 22.
In a firm decision by the High Court, Judge Moses Chinhengo has once again denied requests for postponement in the plea hearing of the individuals accused in the high-profile Fishrot case.
Acting High Court Judge Moses Chinhengo has dismissed an application by Fishrot accused Sacky Shanghala and his co-accused to postpone their case for up to eight months.
Judge Chinhengo did not entertain Shanghala's application, ordering the former Justice Minister and his co-accused to enter a plea.
Ombudsman Basilius Dyakugha says there is an urgent need to renovate the Windhoek Correctional Facility.
The Ombudsman, accompanied by an observor team, made a late afternoon visit to the male section of the Windhoek Correctional Facility.
Trial-awaiting former ministers Bernard Esau and Sacky Shangala have expressed disappointment in Namibia's criminal justice system, claiming that all they did was execute their ministerial functions and not conspire to commit corruption, money laundering, and racketeering.
Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Derek Klazen says the fishrot scandal did not cause the loss of jobs for over 1,000 fishermen, who were part of a strike in 2015.
At his annual industry address at Walvis Bay, Klazen noted that there is a distinction between the Fishrot scandal and the job losses.
The highly anticipated Fishrot trial will no longer commence on October 2, 2023, as planned, as a number of accused persons involved in the matter are fighting to have access to their frozen assets and applying for lawyers through the Directorate of Legal Aid.
