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afrol.com, 18 September - Members of the Namibia Defence Force (NDF) who recently assaulted residents of the Sivara village in the Kavango region, about 600 kilometres north-east of Windhoek, have been given two years imprisonment suspended totally for two years on condition that they are not convicted of an assault offense during this period. The members who were found guilty by a military court assaulted the residents on 21-22 August following the death of their colleague by a villager who allegedly mistook him for a UNITA bandit. Ministry of Defence spokesperson, Mr. Vincent Mwange, said in a statement on 15 September that no member of the NDF is above the law and members who take the law into their own hands would be dealt with according to the supreme law of the country. The Spokesperson also dismissed media reports that the NDF tried to bribe the victims of assault with food and a promise of ten herds of cattle each if they withdraw charges against the accused. He said the victims were satisfied with the way the case was handled by the NDF following the verdict of the court marshal and thus withdrew the charges. Zen Mnakapa, a spokesman for the Namibian Society for Human Rights, in August told IRIN that NDF Captain David Poneyimo was shot with an arrow on 21 August in the village of Mbunya, about 40 km west of the regional capital Rundu, after he allegedly pretended to be an (Angolan) UNITA rebel and went from house to house threatening to kill people.
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