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Police drop charges against Fr Bwalya

Police drop charges against Fr Bwalya
Written by Mutuna Chanda in Kitwe
Thursday, November 27, 2008 11:20:26 AM

POLICE have dropped the charges against Radio Icengelo station manager Fr Frank Bwalya, citing security reasons.

Fr Bwalya was due to appear in the Kitwe magistrates’ court today to answer to charges of publishing articles intended to cause divisions between communities,
between November 1 and 12, 2008 in the post-election radio programmes that he hosted on Radio Icengelo.

In an interview, after meeting Kitwe district police commanding officer Daniel Kasonde and his deputy Andrew Litwayi at the district police headquarters yesterday, Fr Bwalya described the dropping of the charges as a "victory for freedom of expression".


Fr Bwalya said police informed him that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed that the charges be dropped for security reasons.


"They said they have dropped the charges for security reasons. Now when you talk about security reasons, I want to believe that probably they may be referring to what happened when they arrested me that people protested because that was breach of peace on the part of the people who protested; they turned violent at some stage," Fr Bwalya said. "So they wouldn't want a repeat of that and I am very happy that they have dropped the charges on those grounds first and foremost because I also condemn violence. I also don't advocate violence in any form so because of that I am happy," he said.


"This is as I said to indicate that if it had not been for security reasons, they would have proceeded and they might have found me liable of having committed those offences and I think I didn't commit any offence at all," he said.
Fr Bwalya said the dropping of the charges against him on the instructions of the DPP was a signal that he was at liberty to express himself in the manner that he did.


"It is my constitutional right to express myself on matters of public interest. As a result, I believe I didn't commit any offence by doing that, meaning therefore, that this should be a victory on the part of democracy; it's a victory on the part of freedom of expression; people have a constitutional right to express themselves," Fr Bwalya said. "I was only trying to criticize the way the elections were conducted. I was trying to criticize the weakness of our governance institutions and that we need to do something to revise these laws to make them good because it's actually bad laws that can breed anarchy in the country."
Fr Bwalya said infringement on people's rights should not be tolerated.


"One thing is clear that that was an infringement on my freedom of expression and that should not be tolerated in a democracy. But I must hasten to mention that both the police and myself have learnt something. I am sure that they may not do things in the same way that they did which of course, led to my detention, arrest and what transpired thereafter. I have also learnt something. Some of the people whose shops were broken into I know them personally," Fr Bwalya said. "But I am not saying that I condemn, because I know them personally but because violence in itself does not solve any problem and it was not my intention whatsoever to incite people to conduct any violent acts as such. So, I have also learnt something and I think that's the way life is. It is not enough simply to say that the police did something wrong and they should regret."
Fr Bwalya said he had not thought about taking legal action against the state.


"One thing that should be clear to everyone in this country is that no one should be allowed to infringe upon another person's constitutional or human rights and if suing the state or the police will actually advance the appreciation of these rights and ensure that in future these rights are not infringed upon, that is one thing that I may consider but I need to talk about it with the lawyers to see what value that would add because at the end of the day my motive is not to make money; my motive is just to speak for the people, the so many people in the community who have lost hope because things are not moving in the way that they think they should be moving; people who think that the governance systems are failing them," said Fr Bwalya.
When contacted for comment, police spokesperson Bonny Kapeso referred queries to home affairs minister Kalombo Mwansa.


On November 12, Fr Bwalya was arrested by Kitwe Police after conducting a special live post-election programme.
On November 13, Fr Bwalya was then charged with publishing articles intending to bring divisions between communities, between November 1 and 11, 2008. On the same day prior to Fr Bwalya's release, scores of people in Kitwe demonstrated, bringing business to a virtual standstill. The Church and civil society organisations condemned Fr Bwalya's arrest, describing it as an affront to press freedom and freedom of expression. Later, Southern Province Minister Daniel Munkombwe told Parliament that some church leaders were being arrested because they were becoming political agents for genocide. Munkombwe also said some churches had become more political and that was why some church leaders were being arrested.

Labels: FRANK BWALYA, FREEDOM OF SPEECH

posted by MrK @ 11:22 AM