(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to President Frederick Chiluba, RSF protested the arrest of Fred M’membe, editor-in-chief of “The Post”. RSF asked the president to do everything in his power to secure the journalist’s immediate release. “According to our information, Fred M’membe only used his right to inform as guaranteed in several international treaties ratified […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to President Frederick Chiluba, RSF protested the arrest of Fred M’membe, editor-in-chief of “The Post”. RSF asked the president to do everything in his power to secure the journalist’s immediate release. “According to our information, Fred M’membe only used his right to inform as guaranteed in several international treaties ratified by Zambia,” said Robert Ménard, secretary-general of RSF. The organisation reminded Chiluba that Abid Hussein, the United Nations special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, recommended the following in a document published in January 2000: “In the case of offences such as ‘libelling’, ‘insulting’ or defaming’ the head of state and publishing or broadcasting ‘false’ or ‘alarmist’ information, prison terms are both reprehensible and out of proportion to the harm suffered by the victim.”
According to information gathered by RSF, M’membe was arrested by police officers on 17 August 2001 and taken to the central police station in Lusaka. He is accused of defaming the president because of the editorial published that morning entitled “A Thief for President”. In the opinion article, the editor-in-chief of the independent daily said that Chiluba “diverted money from legitimate purposes to his own personal use.” The journalist also asked “How are people supposed to deal with a lying and thieving president?” In a press release, “The Post” notes that “no form of harassment or intimidation will stop [them] from making those in authority account for their activities to the electorate.” M’membe could be sentenced to up to three years’ imprisonment under Section 69 of the penal code.
