(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ has written Zambian President Frederick Chiluba to strongly condemn the arrests of Ms. Lubasi Mwangala Katundu, Joe Kaunda, Goodson Machona, Amos Malupenga, Brighton Phiri, and Kelvin Shimo, reporters for the independent daily newspaper “The Post”, and the current siege of the newspaper’s editorial offices and its printing press, where editor in chief, […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ has written Zambian President Frederick Chiluba to
strongly
condemn the arrests of Ms. Lubasi Mwangala Katundu, Joe Kaunda, Goodson
Machona, Amos Malupenga, Brighton Phiri, and Kelvin Shimo, reporters for
the
independent daily newspaper “The Post”, and the current siege of the
newspaper’s editorial offices and its printing press, where editor in
chief,
Fred M’membe, and reporters Dickson Jere, Sam Mujuda, and Arthur
Simochoba
face imminent arrest.
**Updates previous IFEX alerts of 10 March 1999**
At 8:30 p.m. (local time) on 9 March 1999, three police officers
arrested
Katundu at her Blaston Park residence and transported her to the
Woodlands
Police Station in Lusaka, where she was held in a corridor which
separates
two cells for male prisoners. At 10:00 p.m., four plainclothes Zambian
police arrived in unmarked vehicles at Shimo’s residence in the Avondale
section of Lusaka, arrested the journalist, and transported him to the
Woodlands Police Station. At 11:30 p.m., Kaunda was arrested at his
residence in the Chilenje section of Lusaka and transported to a local
police station. Later that evening, police began roving throughout the
city
in search of the newspaper’s editorial staff, following an apparent
order to
arrest them all before dawn. By 10 March, police had also arrested
Malupenga
and Phiri. The arrests were ordered by Defense Minister Chitalu Sampa in
retaliation for the 9 March edition’s lead story, titled “Angola Worries
Zambia Army, ZAF.” The article reported that unidentified senior Zambia
Army
and Zambia Air Force (ZAF) officers believe that Zambia could not
withstand
a military attack by Angola. The six journalists have not been charged
with
a crime, and the newspaper’s lawyers have filed a habeus corpus
application
with the Lusaka High Court.
The article was part of “The Post”‘s coverage of the Angolan
government’s
recent accusations that Zambian officials are supplying arms to Union
for
the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) rebel forces, and that there
are
links between high-ranking officials, including Zambian Vice President
Chris
Ontembo, Energy Minister Benny Mwila, and President Chiluba’s son, Tito
Chiluba, and UNITA. “The Post” has reported the Angolan government’s
accusations, as well as the Zambian military’s consistent denials about
arms
trading with UNITA.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the President:
Malupenga,
Phiri, and Machona
work,
violate journalists’ rights to seek, receive, and impart information and
ideas of all kinds, as guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration
of Human Rights, Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, and Article 9 of the African Charter of Human and
People’s
Rights, to all of which the Republic of Zambia is a signatory.
Katundu,
Shimo, Kaunda, Malupenga, Phiri, and Machona – are released
unconditionally,
that the siege of the newspaper’s editorial and printing offices ceases
immediately, and that he ensure the safety of those “Post” staffers who
are
being held inside the buildings
and
without reprisal
Appeals To
His Excellency President Frederick Chiluba
State House
Independence Avenue
Lusaka, Zambia
Fax: +260 1 221939
E-mail: state@zamnet.zm; mfalus@zamnet.zm
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
