Zambian court to rule on validity of treason charge on opposition chief

A Zambian court will rule next week on whether to throw out a treason case against the leader of the main opposition party whose lawyers say the charges are vague and ambiguous, a magistrate said on Thursday.

United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema was arrested last week in a police raid on his home and charged with trying to overthrow the government.

His lawyers asked the court on Wednesday to dismiss the case, saying the charges were not specific.

President Hakainde Hichilema speaking to his wife Mutinta earlier today at court. pic.twitter.com/MoR9IotxIv

— UPND (@UPNDZM) April 20, 2017

Magistrate Greenwell Malumani said he needed time to decide whether to dismiss the treason charge and consider other preliminary issues that had been raised by the defence.

“The issues involved are many and complex and therefore I cannot hurriedly make a ruling. I will adjourn the matter to Wednesday, 26th April for ruling on the preliminary issues raised,” Malumani said.

Hichilema has been charged with plotting with other people between October 10 of last year and April 8 to overthrow the government. The arrest has raised political tension in Zambia, Africa’s second-biggest copper producer.

The Southern African country has traditionally been relatively stable but relations between the government and opposition have been fraught since last August, when President Edgar Lungu’s Patriotic Front (PF) party beat the UPND in a presidential election marred by violence.

The opposition says the vote was rigged but Hichilema has so far failed in his legal challenge against the result.

Reuters