Supreme Court blocks ‘sickly’ Mwilima’s release bid
Former lawmaker Geoffrey Mwilima’s bid to be released from the Windhoek Central Prison on medical grounds were dashed in the Supreme Court yesterday after the apex court dismissed his application.
Mwilima was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2015 after being found guilty of murder and treason on the basis of his involvement in the secession of the then Caprivi Strip from Namibia.
He approached the country’s apex court in a bid to overturn a High Court judgment in which his application to be released failed.
Mwilima has in the past also unsuccessfully challenged his continued detention, mainly on the grounds of his alleged ill health.
The ministry of home affairs, immigration, safety and security decided, on the basis of a recommendation by a medical expert, that Mwilima should not be released from prison. The medical expert determined that Mwilima suffers from diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney failure, as well as hypertension, epilepsy and hypercholesterolemia.
However, he found that Mwilima's continued detention will not be detrimental to his health.
‘Sick but stable’
"He has access to regular dialysis sessions and also to his private doctors when needed," the medical expert said in his recommendation to the ministry, adding that Mwilima is "sick but stable".
Mwilima challenged this recommendation and the ministry's decision in the High Court, but his review application was dismissed in March 2023.
In Mwilima's appeal application, he argued that the medical expert's decision that he should not be released was unreasonable and irrational and that he was not given an opportunity to be heard before the recommendation was made.
He demanded that the court set aside the medical expert's recommendation and order the ministry to release him.
"There are no valid grounds for the court to review the medical expert's decision. This court finds that there was no arbitrariness, capriciousness, unreasonableness or irrationality about the medical expert's decision. If [Mwilima] had any representations to make to the medical officer, that opportunity existed during the medical examination," the verdict delivered yesterday by three judges - Theo Frank, Peter Shivute and David Smuts - read.
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Mwilima was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2015 after being found guilty of murder and treason on the basis of his involvement in the secession of the then Caprivi Strip from Namibia.
He approached the country’s apex court in a bid to overturn a High Court judgment in which his application to be released failed.
Mwilima has in the past also unsuccessfully challenged his continued detention, mainly on the grounds of his alleged ill health.
The ministry of home affairs, immigration, safety and security decided, on the basis of a recommendation by a medical expert, that Mwilima should not be released from prison. The medical expert determined that Mwilima suffers from diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney failure, as well as hypertension, epilepsy and hypercholesterolemia.
However, he found that Mwilima's continued detention will not be detrimental to his health.
‘Sick but stable’
"He has access to regular dialysis sessions and also to his private doctors when needed," the medical expert said in his recommendation to the ministry, adding that Mwilima is "sick but stable".
Mwilima challenged this recommendation and the ministry's decision in the High Court, but his review application was dismissed in March 2023.
In Mwilima's appeal application, he argued that the medical expert's decision that he should not be released was unreasonable and irrational and that he was not given an opportunity to be heard before the recommendation was made.
He demanded that the court set aside the medical expert's recommendation and order the ministry to release him.
"There are no valid grounds for the court to review the medical expert's decision. This court finds that there was no arbitrariness, capriciousness, unreasonableness or irrationality about the medical expert's decision. If [Mwilima] had any representations to make to the medical officer, that opportunity existed during the medical examination," the verdict delivered yesterday by three judges - Theo Frank, Peter Shivute and David Smuts - read.
– [email protected]
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