Windhoek — Three suspects who were arrested in the capital over the weekend in connection with a burglary at a Prisons depot storeroom along Krupp Street made their first appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court yesterday on charges of theft and housebreaking.

The three are accused of breaking into a Prisons depot along Krupp Street and stealing an assortment of firearms and ammunition early last month.

They are Nyemwaati Petrus (25), Gerson Shimange (25), and Jonas Shudifonya (34). They appeared before magistrate Elsie Schickerling, while prosecutor Linus Samaria appeared for the State.

Their case has been remanded to July 7 pending further investigations. Before postponing the case, Schickerling took time to explain to the accused their legal right to representation.

The three were each granted N$5000 bail and were ordered to report to the police station three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, between 07h00 and 10h00.

They are also not allowed to leave the district of Windhoek without police permission and they may not interfere with police investigations or State witnesses. They reportedly gained entry into the premises through a steel door on the south-west of the building.

They are alleged to have forced open the door to one of the offices and removed six G3 rifles, 7.62-millimetre automatic rifles, two 9-millimetre pistols and a 5.65-millimetre baby-browning pistol.

The three also apparently forced open wooden doors and removed a small safe where office keys were kept.

They removed a hard drive to one of the computers, which contained all logistical information and made off with an unknown amount of money from the ground floor.

Other goods were also stolen during the raid. The stolen firearms were all out of order and had been sent to the depot for repairs.