Staff Reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE terrorism case of Jona Hangula has once more been postponed to 27 November 2026, after the State Prosecutor in the matter indicated that he would make an application for an Arabic translator to be sworn in as a translator of the Namibian High Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hangula is accused of conspiring to overthrow the Namibian nation state and bring about a new Islamic government ruled by Muslim law in the country between 2015 and 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 24 September, when Hangula last appeared, it came to the fore that a translator used to translate 1 500 pages of Arabic to English had only been a sworn translator of the High Court for English and Portuguese languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the appearance of 29 September, State Prosecutor, Deputy Prosecutor General Lourens Campher, conceded to the fact that the translator used to transcribe a bundle of documents was indeed not sworn into the High Court, and that the State would make an application to have the translator sworn into the High Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lawyer representing Hangula, Joas Neemwatya, said that he would oppose the application to have the translator sworn in, as the bundle of documents presented to him, which the State claimed to have translated, was done by a translator who had not been sworn in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whilst these proceedings are unfolding, another Arabic translator, Herman Tshilongo Tshoopara, has questioned earlier assertions that Namibia currently did not have a sworn-in Arabic translator due to allegations that he was out of the country. Tshoopara, who came to the offices of the Informant\u00e9, presented a document which indicated that he was sworn in as a translator of the High Court in 2011, bringing forth questions as to why his services have not been used by the State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the terrorism trial, the suspect, Hangula, faces 19 charges, ranging from terrorism funding and recruiting persons to become members of a terrorist organisation to contravening sections of the Namibian Immigration Act, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The State alleges that between 2015 and 2020, Hangula sought to recruit unemployed Namibian youth to join ISIS and Boko Haram, with the intention of overthrowing the Namibian Government to establish a new non-secular state in Namibia ruled by Muslim law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo: File<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Staff Reporter THE terrorism case of Jona Hangula has once more been postponed to 27 November 2026, after the State Prosecutor in the matter indicated that he would make an application for an Arabic translator to be sworn in as a translator of the Namibian High Court. Hangula is accused of conspiring to overthrow the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":401686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n