Windhoek: Seven men convicted in the Caprivi high treason case have filed an application for leave to appeal both their convictions and sentences in the Windhoek High Court.

According to Namibia Press Agency, the application was submitted by Progress Munuma, Shine Samulandela, Manuel Makandano, Alex Mushakwa, John Tembwe, Diamond Salufu, and Frederick Ntambilwa, and is currently before Judge Petrus Unengu. Munuma is alleged to have masterminded a separatist movement in the former Caprivi region (now Zambezi) from 1998 to the early 2000s. The group, sentenced to 20 years last year, claims the High Court erred by not taking into account the time they had already served in jail. Munuma himself was sentenced to 26 years. The group had raised special pleas during trial, arguing that the Caprivi region was not part of Namibia and that they were not Namibian citizens. Both the High Court and the Supreme Court ruled against this claim, confirming that they are indeed Namibian citizens.

The men were originally convicted between 2005 and 2007, with sentences ranging from 30 to 32 years. They served six years before appealing their convictions. In 2013, the Supreme Court overturned the convictions due to legal errors, ordering a retrial that led to their sentencing last year.

State Prosecutor Lourens Campher argued on Monday that the State had presented a strong case and that the judge had properly considered all evidence at the time of sentencing. He noted that the applicants did not provide supporting witnesses or exhibits during the trial.

The applicants, however, maintain that the Supreme Court will reach a different conclusion. Their defence team, consisting of lawyers Jorge Neves and Ilse Agenbach, argues that the Court erred by relying on certain witnesses and by failing to consider the time already served. 'The sentences are excessively harsh, disproportionate, and demonstrate misdirection by the trial judge,' the applicants' heads of argument read.