![]() However, the TRC also expressed reservations about Judge Levy’s finding that Acheson was the assassin. South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) came to a similar conclusion in its report in October 1998, in which it was stated: “The commission believes there are no grounds to contradict Judge Levy’s general finding pertaining to the involvement of the CCB and its responsibility for the conspiracy that led to this killing.” Judge Levy also found that the evidence provided to him indicated that CCB members ‘Chappies’ Maree, ‘Staal’ Burger, Ferdinand (‘Ferdi’) Barnard, Abram (‘Slang’) van Zyl, Carl (‘Calla’) Botha, Wouter Basson and Johan Niemoller, as well as the head of the CCB, Pieter Johan (‘Joe’) Verster, were accomplices involved in the murder. Imalwa said yesterday that having gone through the police docket on the murder of Lubowski it was her opinion, too, that Lubowski was not murdered by Acheson, but that the Irishman had been used as a cover by the actual killer or killers.Īn inquest into the death of Lubowski ended in June 1994 with a finding by High Court Judge Harold Levy that the available evidence indicated that Acheson murdered Lubowski and that the CCB initiated and was involved in the murder as part of an attempt to destabilise Namibia and disrupt the country’s independence elections in late 1989. Heyman subsequently frequently expressed the opinion that Acheson was not the actual assassin responsible for the murder of Lubowski, but was used as a decoy to cover the tracks of the killer or killers. That was the end of the prosecution of anybody in connection with the Lubowski assassination. When the presiding judge refused to grant the prosecution a postponement, Heyman withdrew the charge against Acheson. Heyman also wanted more time to try to secure the presence of witnesses who were also in South Africa but appeared to be reluctant to testify in a trial in Namibia. He was granted bail during an appearance in that court in April 1990, but chose not to pay the bail amount of R4 000 and to remain in custody instead.īy, when Acheson made his next court appearance, Namibia’s first Prosecutor General, Hans Heyman, requested a further postponement of the case to be given more time to try to get two additional suspects, CCB members Leon André (‘Chappies’) Maree and Daniël (‘Staal’) Burger, who were in South Africa, arrested and sent to Namibia to stand trial with Acheson. On the next day, a 52-year-old Irish citizen, Donald Acheson, was arrested in Windhoek in connection with the murder.Īcheson was charged and made a number of court appearances until his case was transferred to the then South West Africa Supreme Court. He was 37 years old, and the deputy head of Swapo’s elections directorate at that stage. ![]() Lubowski was assassinated when he was gunned down in front of his house in Windhoek on the evening of 12 September 1989. It should not be forgotten that the administration of Namibia was still in South African hands at the time he was killed, she said. However, in her opinion, Lubowski’s death was not properly investigated at the time, she said. Imalwa added that she had no doubts that Lubowski was killed by agents of a secret unit in the South African military, the Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB), which was responsible for the murder, attempted murder and harassment of various people who were regarded as enemies of the white-ruled South African regime. “For me to reopen the file I should have new evidence, which is not there.” ![]() It would take credible new evidence coming to light for her to reopen the case about the murder of Lubowski, but until that has happened, “I consider that chapter closed”, Imalwa said. “At the moment there is no evidence on which we could prosecute successfully.” “There is actually no evidence which the State, the Namibian prosecution, currently could use to prosecute those who were allegedly involved,” she said. No prosecution of the people suspected of having been involved in the murder of Lubowski will be taking place in Namibia with the evidence currently available to the country’s prosecuting authority, Imalwa told The Namibian in an interview yesterday. THE case about the assassination of lawyer and prominent Swapo member Anton Lubowski 25 years ago, has reached a dead end in Namibia, says Prosecutor General Martha Imalwa.
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