Sedition law belongs to the colonial museum, Pule tells court

By GRACE CHAILE

CHRISTIAN Democratic Party president Daniel Pule has filed a fresh petition before the Lusaka High Court challenging the use of seditious charges against political expression, arguing that the practice violates the Bill of Rights and undermines constitutional guarantees of free speech.
The petition, filed on November 3, 2025, cites the Attorney General as the respondent and is brought pursuant to Article 28 of the Constitution of Zambia.
In his petition, Dr. Pule is seeking redress against the decision by the Zambia Police to charge him, and the subsequent decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to prosecute him, for seditious practices contrary to Section 57(1)(b) as read with Section 60(1)(j) of the Penal Code, Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia.
He is appearing before Magistrate Sylvia Munyinya in the Lusaka Subordinate Court on the same charge.
According to the petition, the case is from a press briefing held on May 8, 2024, by the United Kwacha Alliance (UKA), where Dr. Pule allegedly criticised what he termed as “tribal-based appointments” in public institutions and parastatals.
The State alleged that his remarks were calculated to promote hostility between different communities. However, Dr. Pule argued that his comments were made in the context of providing checks and balances and could not reasonably be interpreted as promoting ill will or hatred.
He stated that upon his arrest on May 29, 2024, he was detained for eight days before being presented before court on June 4, 2024, when he was formally charged and later released on bail. He argued that his prolonged detention violated his right to liberty and freedom of movement.
Dr. Pule stated that his incarceration disrupted his business activities as a real estate developer and chartered accountant, depriving him of income.
He contends that the continued application of sedition laws is unconstitutional, describing them as archaic, colonial-era relics that are incompatible with modern democratic governance.
“The offence of sedition is being used to criminalise constitutional rights to free expression, to provide checks and balances, and to silence citizens who criticise the government,” he argued in the petition.
He adds that witnesses in his ongoing criminal trial appear intolerant of criticism directed at the President, which, he says, contradicts democratic values.
Dr. Pule submitteds that Sections 57 and 60 of the Penal Code are vague and overly broad, lending themselves to arbitrary enforcement. He maintained that Parliament cannot enact laws that negate fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.
He argued that the widespread use of sedition laws against political expression violates Article 11 of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, effectively eroding free speech in the country’s democratic space.
Dr. Pule is seeking a declaration that sections of the Penal Code under which he was charged violate his constitutional rights to free expression, as well as a ruling that his eight-day detention without being taken to court breached his rights to liberty and freedom of movement.
He also wants the State barred from using the same sedition provisions to arrest or prosecute him further, and for all related proceedings in the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court to be suspended pending the High C