Maravi

Chiluba's acquittal is appealable - LAZ

Chiluba's acquittal is appealable - LAZ
Written by George Chellah
Thursday, October 01, 2009 1:09:03 AM

LAW Association of Zambia (LAZ) president Stephen Lungu has said former president Frederick Chiluba's London judgment case should continue without any further delays.

And Lungu maintained that Chiluba's acquittal is appealable. Addressing journalists at the LAZ secretariat on Tuesday, Lungu said the association's resolve was to closely follow the case in court.

"As council of the LAZ, we met last week and among others resolved to critically look at the case involving the former president and the government of the Republic of Zambia - the London judgment. We recognized that because the former president never enjoyed any imunity in civil matters, this matter should continue without any further delays," Lungu said.

"We know that the judge who initially presided over the matter unfortunately passed on, but we are aware that the matter has been reallocated to another judge and that at the moment the matter is before the Supreme Court. Our resolve therefore will be to closely follow the case in court and if possible consider providing another voice for the people of Zambia in the matter."

He said LAZ had an obligation to the public to provide counsel on issues that relate to the advancement of the rule of law.

"On 17th August 2009, the subordinate court rendered a judgment which among others acquitted former president Chiluba of theft charges that had been preferred against him. This was a matter that stretched for over eight years and soon after the judgment was passed debate ensued," Lungu said. "We read on the one hand the statements attributed to government's position on the matter to the effect that they were happy that former president Chiluba has been acquitted, while on the other hand other members of society expressed the contrary view.

"As an association we remained quiet simply because we needed to ensure that we understood the circumstances that led to the acquittal of the former president and the only way was by reading the judgment."

Lungu said LAZ only got a copy of the judgment on September 8, 2009, as that was the day it was ready for distribution.

"For those that attended court on the day of the judgment, they will attest that the court read out a hand written judgment and a promise was made that it would be typed and signed later. During the interim period however, we received numerous queries on what our position was on the matter but we advised that it was not possible for us to comment because we had not read the judgment and of late it was becoming apparent that people expected LAZ to have a position earlier than when we finally spoke out on the matter," he said.

Lungu said any prudent lawyer knows that he cannot provide advice unless he has read the law.

"It is therefore disappointing to read about lawyers, some senior lawyers at bar who are supposed to be the leaders of the bar making statements that are alarming and which cannot be substantiated," he said.

Lungu said everyone was aware of the position taken by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the matter.

"We reiterate our view that after going through the judgment we believe that the matter is appealable. But we are always mindful of the powers conferred by the DPP by the Constitution but we have made our views very clear to him on the matter in writing," Lungu said. "We are still pursuing the issue by looking at the relevant laws and past precedents to see if there are any ways in which this matter can be resolved. We know that the period of appealing was 14 days but we also know that under the law an application for an appeal can be entertained out of time."

Lungu also said it was a pity that works and supply minister Mike Mulongoti made those remarks over Chiluba's acquittal.

Mulongoti, on Kasama's Radio Mano recently, said it would have been costly to jail Chiluba and that others should be able to go to jail while others should remain behind.

CK

Labels: CHILUBA, LAZ, STEPHEN LUNGU

posted by MrK @ 12:09 AM