By LUCY PHIRI
DIRECTOR of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Gilbert Phiri has denied consent to privately prosecute Batuke Imenda, the UPND secretary general by Sean Tembo for branding Archbishop of Lusaka Dr Alick Banda “the Lucifer of Zambia.”
Mr. Tembo, the president of Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP on January 15, 2024 informed the court that he had written to the DPP seeking permission to undertake a private prosecution of Mr Imenda for hate speech against Archbishop Dr Banda.
Mr. Tembo also informed the DPP in a letter written to him that he had lined up witnesses where ready to testify in Court.
He stated that that Imenda, who is the accused in the matter used a Computer System when he committed the alleged offense of hate speech against the Archbishop of Lusaka.
However, in response, DPP Phiri said he was unable to grant Mr. Tembo’s request to private prosecute Imenda on grounds that he did not avail any cogent evidence to demonstrate that the alleged circulation of the words attributed to the accused was executed by means of a Computer System as required by section 65 of the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act of the Laws of Zambia.
The matter came up yesterday at the Lusaka magistrate court before Nsunge Chanda, and both accused and complainant was present.
In this matter, Imenda is charged with one count of hate Speech contrary to Section 65 of the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act No. 2 of 2021 of the Laws of Zambia.
It is alleged that Imenda on or about May 28, 2023 in an audio circulation from a press briefing held at The UPND Secretariat in Lusaka City, did utter and publish on various media platforms hate speech language against Archbishop Dr Alick Banda by referring to him as “the Lucifer of Zambia.”
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