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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Treason |
Sentence: |
15 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
14.67 |
Year Crime: |
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Year Convicted: |
2015 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Namibia |
County or Region of Crime: |
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City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Osbert Mwenyi Likanyi was wrongly convicted in September 2015 of high treason, nine counts of murder, and 90 counts of attempted murder in Namibia. Likanyi was arrested in Botswana, and on December 6, 2002 he was handed over to Namibian police at a disused weighbridge in Botswana, about two kilometers from the Namibia's border. Likanyi was not extradicted by legal process and did not willingly return to Namibia. Osbert Likanyi was prosecuted based on the allegation that he was involved in a failed attempt to overthrow the Namibian government in the former Caprivi region and secede that region from Namibia in the late 1990s. Likanyi's trial lasted 12 years, from late 2003 until September 2015. After his conviction Likanyi was sentenced on December 8, 2015 to what constituted 15 years in prison. Likanyi and 12 of his co-defendants challeged the legality of their prosecution because they had been illegally abducted outside Namibia and forcibly returned by Namibian authorities. In July 2004, the Namibian Supreme Court ruled by a 3 to 2 vote that the Namibian court's had jurisdiction to try the defendants in spite of the circumstances of their arrest and forcible return to Namibia. However, in August 2016 five different Supreme Court judges ruled that Namibian officials violated international law when they took one of the men handed over with Likanyi, Boster Mubuyaeta Samuele, into their custody in Botswana before transporting him and his companions to Namibia. Samuele was scheduled to be prosecuted in a separate trial. Likanyi's lawyers requested a rehearing in his case based on the ruling in Samuele's case that conflicted with the Supreme Court's July 2004 ruling. On August 7, 2017 the Namibia Supreme Court set aside Likanyi's treason conviction and ordered a permanent stay of prosecution against him. The Supreme Court ruled that international law was violated when Likanyi was handed over to the Namibian Police inside Botswana, and as a consequence of that illegality the Namibian courts did not have jurisdiction to try him. Likanyi was immediately released after more than 14 years in custody." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On August 7, 2017 the Namibia Supreme Court set aside Likanyi's treason conviction and ordered a permanent stay of prosecution against him. Likanyi was immediately released after more than 14 years in custody." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"Supreme Court throws out treason conviction, By Werner Menges, The Namibian, August 9, 2017, pg. 1" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.namibian.com.na/57748/read/Supreme-Court-throws-out-treason-conviction |
Information Source 2: |
"Namibia: Supreme Court throws out treason conviction, By Werner Menges (The Namibian), AllAfrica.com, August 9, 2017" |
Information Location 2: |
http://allafrica.com/stories/201708090395.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Supreme Court in a fix over treason rulings, By Werner Menges, The Namibian, July 19, 2017" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.namibian.com.na/56952/read/Supreme-Court-in-a-fix-over-treason-rulings |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org