Namibia police have arrested two foreign journalists on allegations of trespassing and working as journalists without accreditation. The two, South African film maker Bart Smither and British Investigative Journalist Jim Wickens were arrested near the coastal town of Swakopmund on 16 July 2009.Chief Crime Investigator for the Erongo Region, Charles Sibolile confirmed the arrest of two foreign journalists. The police says the two were arrested under the Marine Resources Act while filming the annual Namibia seal hunt at Cape Cross. According to the police entry to the Cape Cross, is highly restricted during the culling season. The police say the two were filming without permission of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources.
The two Journalists are being held a Henties Bay Police Station and were yet to appear before the Swakopmund Magistrate Court.
The two Journalists were on assignment for the British environmental group, Ecostorm. The British High Commission in Namibia is reportedly investigating the matter. Ecostorm Co-Director Andrew Wasley has called for the immediate release of the two film makers.
The Namibian newspaper reported on 17 June 2009 that the two Journalists might also face charges of concealing their identity by entering Namibia with a tourism visa and for having failed to apply for accreditation from the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.
A Media Affairs Director in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Wilma Deetlefs confirmed that the two did not have media accreditation to allow them to operate in Namibia.
These people will now have to answer to charges against them and it appears as if the Namibia Film Commission will also lay charges that they were filming in the country without permission, confirmed Deetlefs.
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