High Court Judge Herman Oosthuizen has dismissed, with cost, the application by the Fishrot Six in which they wanted their arrest and detention to be declared illegal. Judge Harold Geier delivered the judgement on behalf of judge Oosthuizen. In December 2019, Former Fisheries Minister Bernhard Esau and Former Justice Minister Sacky Shanghala and four others approached the High Court for their urgent release from detention while a case of corruption; money laundering and fraud against them are being investigated. The six also wanted Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) warrants of arrest to be declared illegal. The six, Esau, Shanghala, James Hatuikulipi, Ricardo Gustavo, Tamson Hatuikulipi And Pius Mwatelulo were arrested last year and stand accused of corruption involving facilitating and accepting bribes in exchange for fishing quotas to Icelandic company Samerji. The alleged corruption, which saw massive job losses in Namibia’s fishing industry, was since exposed by local and international media and came to be known as the Fishrot scandal. The judge hearing the urgent application at the time did not entertain the urgency of the application and removed the matter. The applicants then appealed to the Supreme Court, but withdrew the appeal, opting for an expedited hearing on the merits of their application by this court. The application was heard on 26 and 27 February and judgment was reserved for 27 April and further postponed to 30 April. During the argument of applicants’ lead counsel on 26 February the court raised its difficulty to accept on the papers that it has to adjudicate the case presented in respect of all applicants with South African Senior Council Tembeka Ngcukaitobi. The applicants argued that the magistrate should not have issued the warrants for their arrests mainly based on the alleged non-disclosures by the third respondent. The court, however, dismissed that argument saying the authorities relied on is concerning instances where an arrest was done without a warrant of arrest. The court further says the arrest was done in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Act. The Fishrot accused could still apply for bail but it remains unclear why they are not using that option.