At the time, the judge could not understand why the 48-year-old veteran photographer had been detained by police for so long, saying "I don't understand that and I think it was unnecessary."

On his release last week, Mr Liebenberg told Reuters press agency that police may have wanted to use his case as a warning to other photographers and media.

"They probably wanted to make an example of me to the other, so-called nasty paparazzi, press. But we have been very respectful to [the couple]," he said.

John Liebenberg, 48, is now being charged with trespassing and ordered to appear in court in Namibia on Friday.

.The South African National Editors Forum said his arrest was "heavy-handed," adding, in a statement: "Citizens have a right to privacy, however, journalists also have a right to be able to do their jobs without unfair hindrance or intimidation."

Since Pitt and Jolie, 30, and her two young children, Maddox and Zahara, arrived in the sleepy coastal town of Walvis Bay last month, they have been shielded by their own bodyguards and Namibian police at the luxury Burning Shores resort hotel.

lenses.

Jolie, whose baby is due this month, arrived in Namibia six weeks ago with her partner Brad Pitt.

Pitt, 42, sent an e-mail to the Cannes Film Festival in the south of France on Tuesday, saying he couldn't attend the screening of his new film, "Babel," due to "the imminent arrival of the newest addition to our family."

Meanwhile, Samuel Nuuyoma, the governor of the Namibian province where the family is staying, has been quoted as saying he would visit the hospital and name the baby.

"No. No. That's absolutely not true," Nuuyoma, who has met the couple, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

"I never said such a thing. Never in history," he said, abruptly ending the phone conversation.