Tue, 07 Mar 2017 07:49:06 +0000
By AARON CHIYANZO
FRIGHTONE Sichone, a lawyer who was denied assistance at the time Musa Mwenya was honorary secretary of LAZ has now written to challenge the decision by the association to offer assistance to Nchima Nchito who is facing criminal prosecution.
Mr Sichone stated in his letter addressed to LAZ president Linda Kasonda that in 2008 he was refused assistance on grounds that it was not the objective of the association to intervene in any of its members cases which were before court.
He said that LAZ had made it clear that intervening in members cases amounted to interfering with the judicial process.
Mr Sichone said that LAZ had indicated that it had a lot of its members appearing in various courts of law but that any intervention in any one case would put the association’s interest in that matter into question.
He reiterated that the previous LAZ executive had pointed out the association had no mandate to provide assistance to members for purposes of legal representation for matters which were purely personal.
Mr Sichone further stated that LAZ had refused to help him on the grounds that it was a believer in the separation of powers and the principle of equality before the law and that doing so would deem them as shielding members from prosecution.
“When I asked for assistance, LAZ made it clear that they cannot interfere with the judicial process. It indicated that a lot of its members were appearing in various courts of law but that any intervention in any one case would put the association’s interest in that matter into question” he said.
Mr Sichone wondered whether there had been any amendments to the LAZ and the Legal Practitioners Acts which were not known to him, which placed the association in a different position in relation to its role in protecting its members than it was in the past.
He questioned why LAZ had now taken the role of the Legal Aid Board in aiding its members who were capable of engaging lawyers on their own. “The honourary secretary of LAZ, Sashi Nchito, is a biological sister of Mr Nchima Nchito. Could it be the reason why LAZ has now decided to offer protection to its members at this time while the same was not available to me when I needed it because I did not have a relative in the LAZ executive at the time” said Mr Sichone.
Tomorrow we publish the full letter written by Frightone Sichone to LAZ
