Namibia SCORES: Individual scores: 1, 3, 2, 3, 2, 4, 4, 3, 3 Average score: 2.8 1.3 (2005 = 3.3) There are no laws restricting freedom of expression such as excessive official secret or libel acts, or laws that unreasonably interfere with the responsibilities of the media. ANALYSIS: One of the biggest threats to media freedom is the sluggish pace with which outdated and media-unfriendly legislation from the apartheid era is being removed from the statute books. There are some laws that restrict freedom of expression in Namibia, such as the Official Secrets Act, the Key Point Act and the Defence Law, but the question remains whether they are excessive. Most of these acts originated in the pre-independence era. They may not be evoked, but they remain as a possible threat and thus “create indirect fear”. In 2005 the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting commissioned the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) to investigate the laws that restrict freedom of expression and the media. To date, the ministry has made no movement to make the results public. There is currently no Criminal Libel Act but only the common law offence of crimen injuria. And there has been a noticeable increase in such civil cases with people claiming substantial damages from newspapers. In a defamation case still to be heard, former president Sam Nujoma is claiming N$5 million (1 N$ = 1 South African Rand) from The Namibian newspaper and journalist Werner Menges, and there are a number of cases against Informanté. 6 African Media Barometer - Namibia 2007