Zambia : International Bodies Working To Resolve Treason Case Against Mundubile, Zulu — Lawyer

The United Nations, the Southern African Development Community and church mother bodies have engaged government in an effort to negotiate a resolution to the treason charges facing former opposition leader Brian Mundubile, running mate Makebi Zulu and 16 others, lawyer Milner Katolo has revealed.

The suspects were moved to Mukobeko Maximum Security Prison in Kabwe on Sunday, where they remain in custody awaiting their court appearance.

In an interview on Wednesday, Katolo said relevant stakeholders were already involved in efforts to resolve the matter, describing it as a moment for national healing rather than confrontation. “Elections have come, elections have gone and inaugurations have come, inaugurations have gone. It is now time to heal the nation from whatever divisions that might have been occasioned on account of the election,” he said.

“So both parties must find it in their heart to have discussions for now so that we heal and move forward as one united nation.”

He said church mother bodies, the UN, SADC and the African Union had all shown involvement, and could help bring the two sides together to resolve the matter amicably as one family, given that it stemmed directly from the electoral process.

Katolo drew a parallel with 2017, when President Hakainde Hichilema himself faced a treason charge while in opposition, a case that was only resolved after the Commonwealth intervened. “He was kept at Mukobeko and we recall very well the role that the Commonwealth played through the secretary general, Patricia Scotland, and it resulted in the resolution of this matter,” he said.

A nolle prosequi was eventually entered in that case, closing the chapter. Katolo said the present case sat at an earlier stage. The 18 accused have been charged, but the matter has not yet been presented before a court, a distinction he said mattered a great deal.

“In the case of the 18, we are alive to the fact that the charges have been levelled but the matter has not even been presented to court, yet giving a very nice setting in which parties can talk to each other freely, mutually, for the benefit of mother Zambia,” Katolo said.

He said it was equally important that Zambia’s democracy be allowed to thrive without citizens fearing that participation in an electoral process could end in a treason charge. “So we hope that church mother bodies will be able to push this agenda and then see how far it goes. It must be a proper give and take from both sides for the sake of Zambia,” he said.

He added that supporters of both political camps live within the same communities and should not be made to live as enemies. “Each of the sides had its own supporters, those supporters live in communities, they must not live like enemies, they must live like family. And it’s only the leaders that can help them continue to live as a united family and our motto of ‘One Zambia, One Nation’,” Katolo said.

Katolo also gave an account of the day the group was formally charged. He said Saturday’s process at Central Police Station in Lusaka was tense from the outset, with lawyers initially denied access to their clients for over an hour after arriving.

“On Saturday, that was the day they were charged. In the morning, the Central Police was sealed. We went at 10:00 and we were told there was an operation going on and no one was being allowed, and we should come after one hour, 30 minutes. But after an hour and 30 minutes, we had access to our clients,” he said.

He said lawyers remained with the accused for most of that day, until the charging process concluded in the late afternoon. “We spent almost the whole day with them there until about 17:00 hours, when the whole process of arrest was completed,” Katolo said, adding that police public relations officer Godfrey Chilabi later intervened after reports circulated that lawyers had been blocked from accessing their clients.

Katolo also addressed continued restrictions on access to Mundubile and Zulu since their transfer to Mukobeko. He said only family members had been permitted to see the pair between Sunday and Tuesday, with lawyers only gaining access on Wednesday.

“No, because they are all at Mukobeko now, but members of the family are being allowed to see them. Other lawyers were seeing them today, but between Sunday, when they were taken to Mukobeko, and Tuesday, no one was allowed to see them,” he said.

Asked whether formal engagement talks involving the church and other organisations had already begun, Katolo said he was not in a position to comment on that specific detail. He clarified that his own role was limited, as he represents only one of the 18 accused. “In all this matter, I have made it clear from the start that I only have one client, and that client is Mr Harry Findlay. The other 17 are represented by other lawyers, but I was only speaking because the other lawyers authorised me, because of having been the senior most on the team. So I cannot competently comment on them,” he said.

Katolo said his understanding of the wider diplomatic engagement was drawn largely from public reporting, in which the United Nations and church mother bodies were said to have been involved before handing the matter over for further discussion. “What I know is what was in the public media, where the United Nations were involved, the church mother bodies, and they handed over the two, and so we can now pick it up from there,” he said.

The 18 accused remain in custody at Mukobeko, with their court appearance yet to be scheduled. The outcome of any behind-the-scenes engagement is expected to shape how the case, and the wider political mood following the election, unfolds in the weeks ahead.

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