Mundubile, Makebi Zulu Wait On Tuesday Ruling After 70 Days In Mukobeko
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Local NewsMundubile Bail Fate Rests On Tuesday Ruling As Tonse Condemns 70-Day Detention The High Court will rule on Tuesday, 10 November, on whether Brian Mundubile and 17 others can proceed with their bid for constitutional bail. The State has asked the court to throw out the application…
Mundubile Bail Fate Rests On Tuesday Ruling As Tonse Condemns 70-Day Detention
The High Court will rule on Tuesday, 10 November, on whether Brian Mundubile and 17 others can proceed with their bid for constitutional bail. The State has asked the court to throw out the application on a technicality, arguing that it was filed in the wrong form. Opposition leaders are describing the prolonged detention as cruel and illegal.
A panel led by Mr Justice Mulenga reserved its ruling after hearing arguments in chambers on a preliminary issue raised by the State. Mr Mundubile is the losing presidential candidate of the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP). He is joined in the application by his former running mate Makebi Zulu, Lusaka business executive Harry Findlay and 15 others. The group sued the State alleging gross violations of their constitutional rights. They then applied for constitutional bail, asking to be released either unconditionally or on reasonable conditions set by the court.
Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha, State Counsel, raised the preliminary issue. He urged the court to dismiss the bail application on the grounds that it had been wrongly commenced as a civil application instead of a criminal one. The State’s position is that the form of the filing goes to the heart of the court’s authority to hear the matter at all.
Acting Chief State Advocate Chibesa Mulonda developed that argument on behalf of the State. He submitted that the court could not grant constitutional bail when the application had been brought in civil rather than criminal format. He contended that, in those circumstances, the court had no jurisdiction to hear the application.
The defence pushed back hard. Lawyers for Mr Mundubile and the 17 others include three State Counsel: Bonaventure Mutale, Chifumu Banda and Sakwiba Sikota. They urged the court to reject the objection, sustain the application and hear it on its merits. The State maintained its position that the application should be dismissed for being irregularly filed.
The ruling leaves two possible paths. Mr Justice Mulenga said that if the preliminary issue did not succeed, the court would proceed straight to the substantive bail hearing on the same day. A ruling in the State’s favour would end the application in its current form and send the detainees’ lawyers back to refile.
Outside the courtroom, the opposition has escalated its language. Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance secretary general Muhabi Lungu said the continued incarceration of Mr Mundubile, Mr Zulu and the others at Mukobeko Maximum Prison for more than 70 days, without a plea before a High Court judge, was cruel. In a television interview, he said the detention was illegal because the country was not under a state of emergency.
“It’s not right and fair to charge Brian Mundubile, Makebi Zulu and 17 others and keep them in prison for 70 days without a plea before a judge. It’s not right; it’s illegal. We are not under a state of emergency. 70 days is not 48 hours, especially when the state says it has been probing this case for the last three years ahead of the arrest,” Mr Lungu said.
Mr Lungu accused the State of dragging its feet in the treason matter while the accused remained behind bars. He framed the choice facing prosecutors in stark terms: prove the case or free the accused.
“You can clearly see the State is dragging its feet in the treason matter while our leaders suffer. If you don’t have evidence, let them go, release them. If you have evidence, let the trial start and do it expeditiously so that the whole world sees what you accused them for,” he said.
The Tonse official went further and described the detention as an abuse of state power. In his view, it was aimed at punishing dissent rather than delivering justice. He said the opposition’s reading was that the Government wanted to demonstrate its power to punish.
“Our speculation is that government just wants to show that it can punish you, that abuse, that dictatorship, its cruelty, it’s not governance,” Mr Lungu said.
He tied the case to the final report of the European Union (EU) election observer mission, which he said confirmed that Zambia’s democratic space was shrinking. Mr Lungu said the mission was correct that the boundaries between the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and the police had been unclear during the election. He cited uneven policing, misuse of public resources and questions over the independence of the electoral body. He added that former Botswana president Ian Khama and other outside observers had issued similar warnings.
“It’s wrong to jail people arbitrarily and then question why international observers say there’s shrinking democracy,” Mr Lungu said. “The police act selectively in Zambia under this government, one rule for those that support the government of the UPND, another that restricts those that have divergent views.”
The alliance is also demanding that the treason trial be opened to live coverage. Mr Lungu said past treason trials involving army generals, such as the late Christon Tembo, were covered openly. He said the present case should be held to the same standard.
“Here we are with a treason trial of civilians, namely Brian Mundubile; our leaders, including the media, are barred from covering the proceedings. Give us live coverage,” he said.
Access to the court itself has become a point of friction. Green Party leader Peter Sinkamba said blocking the Lusaka High Court premises had become a culture under the United Party for National Development (UPND) government whenever there was a case involving Mr Mundubile. Mr Sinkamba said he had gone to the court to file documents but met obstruction from police officers manning the premises during the bail hearing.
Tuesday’s ruling now carries weight well beyond the 18 applicants. If the court upholds the State’s objection, the detainees face further delay while the application is refiled. If it rejects the objection, the court will move straight to whether Mr Mundubile, Mr Zulu and the others should be released while their case proceeds. Either way, the decision will shape the course of the most closely watched prosecution of the post-election period
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