Khorixas community marches against police brutality
KHORIXAS - Close to 100 Khorixas residents on Friday held a peaceful demonstration against alleged police brutality that occurred at the Khorixas Police Station on 12 April 2021.
The community members say this alleged police brutality was captured in a video circulating on social media, in which a police officer is seen assaulting a woman and a physically disabled man, who were reportedly arrested for breaking COVID-19 regulations.
In a petition handed over to a representative of the Khorixas Magistrate’s Court on Friday, group spokesperson Sieglinde Wetha said trained police officers should not resort to violence and more so, domestic violence.
“If officers of the law, the people who vowed to protect and serve, would be treating us the way the police did, we are so disappointed. The actions of the police were widely condemned by both national and international human rights organisations, such as the Legal Assistance Centre, the National Society for Human Rights, and Amnesty International. On that fateful night, the officer of the law abused human rights,” she stressed.
Wetha added that the constitution of Namibia is a product of a struggle for sovereignty and human rights, and Namibia is a sovereign, secular, democratic and unitary state, founded upon the principles of democracy and the rule of law and justice for all.
Mathias Ndakalato, a clerk at the Khorixas Magistrate’s Court, accepted the petition on behalf of public prosecutor Johannes Inongelwa.
“I am receiving this petition to hand it over to the prosecutor, since he is absent. I will hand it over to him by Monday once he is back in office,” he said.