Michael Amushelelo's free speech defense rejected in contempt of court case

Judge Nate Ndauendapo ruled that Amushelelo wilfully breached a court order with his Facebook post from late March last year. The judge declared Amushelelo in contempt of court for violating a settlement agreement with Shikongo, which had been made a High Court order in October 2024. Amushelelo received a one-month prison sentence, suspended for one year on conditions.

These conditions include not being found in contempt of Ndauendapo’s order, refraining from publishing further defamatory material about Shikongo, and issuing a formal written apology to Shikongo within seven days. The case stems from Shikongo suing Amushelelo over Facebook remarks that allegedly violated a previous court order. This earlier order resulted from a defamation case where Shikongo sued Amushelelo for N$1 million over comments about a fatal road collision involving Shikongo in December 2022.

In the settlement, Amushelelo apologized and agreed not to make similar statements. In his later Facebook post, Amushelelo claimed Shikongo had not been held accountable for the collision that killed three people and called for his arrest. Amushelelo argued his remarks were not defamatory, constituted fair comment, and were an exercise of free speech, thus not contravening the earlier agreement.

Judge Ndauendapo st