(Rapaport…November 22, 2002) Namibia’s highest court has ruled that the state can automatically seize money gained from illegal diamond trading, The Namibian of Windhoek reports. Three of four men found guilty of buying illicit stones in 2000 had challenged the confiscation of their money on constitutional grounds.
The men — one British, one Iraqi, one Saudi and one Namibian — bought the diamonds from undercover police in the Protected Resources Unit. Judge Elton Hoff conceded that some aspects of the operation were “disquieting” but agreed with prosecutors that automatic forfeiture is reasonable, and an indication of how important combating the illicit diamond trade is to the government.