Namibia High Court Holds Newspaper Liable For Defaming Church

The High Court of Namibia last week awarded the equivalent of about $6,000 (US) for injury to reputation to a church that was defamed by an article published in a Namibian weekly newspaper, the Southern Times. In Universal Church of the Kingdom of God v. Namzim Newspaper (Pty) Ltd, (Namib. High Ct., Dec. 9, 2008), the court ruled in the case in which the plaintiff church objected to a front-page headline in the paper reading: "State bans Satanic sect" along with a picture of its church building. The article inside the paper makes it clear that it was Zambia, not Namibia, that banned the church. Holding that strict liability in defamation cases involving the media would be inconsistent with the Namibia constitution's provisions protecting freedom of speech, expression and the press, the court held that the newspaper could defend if it showed the material published was true and in the public interest. Here the defendant failed to show that the material was true. Informante reported on the court's decision last week.