Police in Namibia Arrest 5 in Raids on Political Group and Trade Unions
Police in Namibia arrested five leading campaigners for independence from South Africa in raids on political and trade union activists Wednesday.
Sources in the South-West Africa People’s Organization said the main target of the clampdown, described as the biggest since 1979, was SWAPO’s internal leadership.
Police arrested Hendrik Witbooi, SWAPO’s vice president; Daniel Tjongarero, the group’s national chairman; lawyer Anton Lubowski, the group’s most senior white official, and Nico Bessinger, its assistant secretary for foreign affairs. Police also said they were holding John Pandeni, secretary general of the Food and Allied Union in Namibia (South-West Africa).
A police official said the five were detained in an investigation into terrorist acts.
SWAPO, the main organization seeking independence for the territory, maintains a legal political wing in Namibia. Its guerrillas have fought South African-led security forces from bases in neighboring Angola for the past 21 years.
South Africa continues to rule Namibia in defiance of the United Nations.
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