SECTOR 1 Namibia does not have specific legislation dealing with criminal defamation, but there is the common law offence of crimen injuria. There are no cases of this being used to date. Panellists felt that civil claims for defamation are dealt with fairly by the courts. In a landmark ruling in 2010, the Supreme Court of Namibia established a defence of “reasonable or responsible publication of information in the public interest.” It did so when ruling on the defamation claim brought by Windhoek’s former Mayor Matheus Shikongo against Informanté. The ruling means that a publisher or broadcaster need not show that a statement is true, necessarily, but that it is important and in the public interest to publish it. In so doing, journalists need to show that they did their best to establish the truth of a statement by checking their facts and giving those they are writing about the chance to reply. In this particular case, the defendant (Informanté and its editor Max Hamata) did not do this, the court ruled, and therefore the defence of “reasonable or responsible publication” did not apply2. The provision for interception centres in the Communications Act will interfere with Freedom of Expression. The media reported widely on the bill when it was tabled in parliament, dubbing the draft the “Spy Bill”. But when the law was actually passed, there was very little media coverage. The National Council (the house of review) held a public hearing on the bill, but this was only conducted in Windhoek. “There was a lot of discussion in the media by media professionals, but this did not extend to civil society. People don’t understand freedom of expression. The same goes for most journalists, too. They are not well read and do not analyse much.” Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator. 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 2.5 (2005: 3.3; 2007: 2.3; 2009: 3.0) 2 Full ruling available from www.saflii.org/na/cases/NASC/2010/6.pdf AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NAMIBIA 2011 15