…but lawyer Jonas Zimba says Dr Zimba is appealing against the High Court ruling in the Court of Appeal
By GRACE CHAILE
RIS Zumani Zimba and three others have been denied bail by the Lusaka High Court.
High Court Judge Conceptor Chinyanwa Zulu has ruled that although Dr Zimba and his co-accued were charged under the law which was bailable in 2018, the 2023 amended law could be applied retrospectively to deny the applicants bail.
“In the current case, the applicants are charged under section 25 of the Anti-Terrorism and Non-Proliferation Act of 2018 as read together with Anti-Terrorism and Non-Proliferation Act Amendment Act No 6of 2023, under which as at 2020, the time when the offence is alleged to have been committed, the offence in issue was bailable.”
However following the amendment of the said Act by amendment Act No 6 of 2023, the offence is no longer bailable as section 69A of the amended Act provides that the Court should not grant bail in respect of the offence for which the penalty is life imprisonment which is the case for the offence that the applicants stand charged with,” High Court Judge Conceptor Chunyanwa Zulu ruled. She ruled that having found that Section 69A of the Anti-Terrorism and Non-Proliferation Act No 6 of 2023 applied to Zulu and his co-accused, the application of bail had failed because the law relating to granting of bail could apply retrospectively.
Zumani and three of his co-accused have been in detention since last month and stand charged with possession of articles for terrorism or proliferation purposes contrary to Section 25 of the Anti-terrorism act no.6 of 2018 as read with section 2 of the Anti-terrorism amendment Act no.6 of 2023.
This follows the ruling on an application for bail pending trial delivered by Judge Zulu, yesterday.
But lawyer Jonas Zimba of Makebi Zulu Advocates, said they were appealing against the ruling in the Court of Appeal.
Mr Zimba said among the reason given was that Section 69 of the Anti-terrorism Act had a retrospective effect and therefore, the four, could not be admitted to bail.
Zimba, ex-political advisor to former President Lungu and his co-accused are being represented by Messrs Mwelwa, Phiri, and Partners, Kang’ombe and Associates,Makebi Zulu and Advocates and Joseph Chirwa and Company.
HH in Kyiv, Ukraine on peace mission
resident, Hakainde Hichilema has arrived Kyiv, Ukraine on a peace mission meant to end the Ukraine-Russia war.
President Hichilema is among seven African leaders who are in Ukraine and Russia on a peace mission, hoping to work towards ending the war, which has badly affected living standards across the continent.
According to BBC, the delegation from South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Congo-Brazzaville, Comoros, Zambia, and Uganda met President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday and would be meeting President Vladimir Putin today.
President Hichilema yesterday said on his facebook page that he had arrived in Kyiv along with other African Presidents and toured Kyiv as part of a peace mission to address the conflict with Russia.
“Fellow citizens, along with some fellow African Presidents, we are currently touring Kyiv in Ukraine as part of a peace mission to address the conflict with Russia. We sincerely appreciate your prayers and support,” President Hichilema said.
But the timing of the visit seems off. It comes just as Kyiv is launching its much-vaunted counter-offensive, the BBC reports.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa offered no timeline or proposals when he made the announcement last month, joining a crowded field of would-be peacemakers that includes China, Turkey and the Pope.
