Zambia
Editor faces contempt chargesPosted Oct 28 2009
Fred M’membe, editor-in-chief of the Post, Zambia’s largest daily, pleaded not guilty to contempt of court charges on Oct. 14 for publishing an editorial piece in August about ongoing proceedings against Chansa Kabwela, one of the paper’s reporters.
In July, Kabwela was arrested for sending photos to government officials of a woman giving birth in the street. He mailed the pictures to draw attention to public suffering caused by a health worker strike.
In the controversial article Muna Ndulo, a law professor at Cornell, criticized the criminal charges brought against Kabwela. Magistrates brought contempt of court charges shortly after its publication and cited M’membe, Ndulo and Post deputy editor Sam Mujuda.
M’membe and Mujuda could face up to six months in prison under section 116 of the Zambian penal code, which defines contempt of court as speech or writing that misrepresents an ongoing judicial proceeding or that could prejudice opinion regarding that proceeding, IPI reports.
Mujuda told IPI that the Post does not consider the piece contemptuous, as it “does not go into the merits of the case.” Mujuda is currently outside Zambia and will face charges upon his return.
If Kabwela is found guilty of distributing material that could “corrupt morals,” he could serve a jail term of up to five years.