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The conviction and sentencing of the Patriotic Front member to 18 months in prison with hard labor will have a broad chilling effect on the right to freedom of expression in Zambia, says Human Rights Watch.
Raphael Nakacinda, Secretary-General of the Edgar Lungu-led Patriotic Front, was sentenced on May 17, 2024, for his 2021 remarks “defaming the president,” a criminal offense that the president abolished in 2022.
President Hakainde Hichilema stated that the law on criminal defamation of the president “inhibits the growth of democracy, good governance, impedes human rights and basic freedoms.”
Idriss Ali Nassah, Senior Africa Researcher at Human Rights Watch, made this statement in Johannesburg, South Africa, and distributed to the media in Lusaka, Zambia.
“Sending a leading opposition figure to prison under a law that previous administrations notoriously used to silence critics is a blot on President Hichilema’s record,” Nassah said.
He called on the government to quash Nakacinda’s conviction, release him and stop prosecuting political opponents and others under this revoked law.
Nassah expressed concerns that President Hichilema might use the law, like his predecessors, to stifle critical voices and deter criticism.
“Zambian authorities should stop harassing and prosecuting people to deprive them of their right to free speech and other fundamental liberties,” he said.
Nassah emphasized that people in Zambia should be able to openly criticise the government without fear of reprisal.
“However, as Human Rights Watch has previously reported, ordinary people, journalists, human rights defenders, and political opposition members still face harassment for their perceived criticism of the authorities,” he noted.
Emphasizing that elected public officials in a rights-respecting democracy should have greater tolerance of criticism and scrutiny, Nassah stated that Zambians needed to be able to exercise their basic rights without fear of reprisals.
In December 2021, Nakacinda had alleged that President Hichilema summoned judges to his residence to intimidate and coerce them into passing judgments favorable to him in legal battles with the Patriotic Front.
Later, State House Chief Communication Specialist, Clayson Hamasaka, dismissed the allegation as “contemptuous.”
Hamasaka said that “law enforcement agencies should not hesitate to hold accountable those who will abuse basic constitutional freedoms to peddle malicious and baseless attacks against other members of the public.”
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