DPP violating treason detainees’ rights - Rodger Chongwe

DPP violating treason detainees’ rights - Rodger Chongwe
By Namatama Mundia
Thu 17 Feb. 2011, 04:02 CAT

A lawyer for the 23 Lozis charged with treason over the Barotseland Agreement of 1964 says the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is violating their rights. Dr Rodger Chongwe said in the Lusaka Magistrate’s Court when the group appeared for mention yesterday morning that the rights of the treason detainees had been violated with impunity.

And the state has entered a nolle prosequi in a case where a Kalabo police officer Siyamana Namate and a Mongu businessman Reuben Aongola were charged with treason.

Dr Chongwe is one of the lawyers representing Muya-ngana Muyangana and 21 others who are jointly charged with treason and a police officer from Chelstone Police Camp, Maybin Sikwa who is charged separately for the similar offence.

When the matter came up before magistrate Kenneth Mulife because principal resident magistrate Sharon Newa, the magistrate handling the case was not available, a public prosecutor Mwewa Musonda told the court that the case was coming up for mention awaiting a certificate of committal to the High Court from the DPP.

But Dr Chongwe said he was aware that magistrate Mulife was standing in for magistrate Newa to mention and adjourn the case.

“However, this is the only court which these accused can address,” Dr Chongwe said.

Dr Chongwe said the accused persons were born free men.

He said under Article 13 of the Zambian Constitution, the accused having been detained on an allegation of committing a criminal offence against the state, it was the state’s obligation to take them to court for trial not within one month but within reasonable time.

He said the accused had been detained for more than one month.

Dr Chongwe said there was neither a state of emergency declared under Article 1 in the country nor a partial state of emergency declared in Mongu.

“There is peace in Western Province and there is peace in Mongu, the DPP can’t detain citizens of a country indefinitely under the pretext that he is still investigating the case,” Dr Chongwe said.

He said people should be arrested after investigations of their alleged criminal acts had been finished and that is when the DPP should issue a certificate of committal.

He said the treason-accused Lozis have been held in custody against Article 13 (3) which state that a person who is arrested or detained upon reasonable suspicion that he committed a criminal offence in Zambia and who is not released should be brought without undue delay before court.

“We don’t leave in a state of anarchy, these men have committed no offence, the charge is fake, that’s why the DPP instead of complying with the law, he is detaining these men unlawfully,” Dr Chongwe said.

Dr Chongwe said they were concerned with the violating of the liberty of Zambians by the DPP.
“He DPP has no regard for freedom and liberty for people of this country,” he said.

Dr Chongwe requested the courts to consider the issues he had raised.

In response to the defence’s concerns, Musonda said the state sympathised with the accused persons especially that the offence was not bailable.

However, he said the state was also aware of the Constitutional powers of the office of the DPP which functioned independently.

“The state can only go as far as submitting a docket which we have done and we are waiting for a certificate of committal to the High Court,” Musonda said.

He proposed that the case be adjourned to February 25, 2011 for mention and that in the case that a certificate of committal was not received, dates for preliminary trial would be set.

Ruling on the submissions, magistrate Mulife said he had anxiously heard the submission from both parties.

He said the concerns were quite valid and agreed that the accused had been remanded for quite some time.

Magistrate Mulife said since he was not the one presiding over the case, he had noted on record the strong sentiments and he would direct them to the presiding magistrate.

Another defence lawyer Muleya Kashewe urged the court to include Sikwa who is separately charged when a ruling is made on the 22 accused Lozis.

Just after magistrate Mulife adjourned the cases to February 25, a daughter to one of the accused cried uncontrollably as her relatives were seen comforting her.

Earlier before senior resident magistrate Aridah Chulu, the state entered a nolle prosequi in respect of Namate and Aongola.

Public prosecutor Mwewa Musonda told magistrate Chulu that he had received instructions from the DPP to discharge Namate and Aongola.

Magistrate Chulu told the duo that they had been discharged under section 81 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code CPC.

“Accused persons, you go home but this is not an acquittal,” said magistrate Chulu.