Pule challenges sedition charge in High Court

Pule challenges sedition charge in High Court

By Esther Chisola 

CHRISTIAN Democratic Party (CDP) leader Danny Pule has petitioned the State in the Lusaka High Court seeking an order to stay all seditious practice charges against him before the Lusaka magistrates court until final determination of the matter.

Apostle Pule, who has cited the Attorney General, also wants a declaration that the seditious practice charge against him contravenes his rights under the Bill of Rights.

He submits that the charge of sedition obliterated the right to free expression in a democratic dispensation.

Apostle Pule also wants a declaration that the acts of the State to its agent of keeping him in custody for a period of eight days without being taken to court is a violation of his right to free movement and amounts to false imprisonment.

“Consequently, the petitioner [Apostle Pule] was held for a period of eight days before being taken to court. He was only charged with the offence of seditious practices on June 4, 2024, which was eight days after he was put in custody and his freedom of movement restricted,” he submits.

According to the petition filed at the registry, Apostle Pule submits that upon his arrest on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, he was detained continuously from that date and was only presented before the court on June 4, 2024, and was subsequently granted bail and released on June 5, 2024.

“The petitioners’ incarceration prevented him from conducting business as a real estate developer, was sourced to provide consultancy as a chartered accountant, and he was not able to run his day-to-day businesses, which are a source of his income,” the petition reads in part.

Apostle Pule further contends that following his prosecution and the scope of witnesses who have testified so far, it is clear that the offence of seditious is essentially being used to criminalise his constitutional right to free expression, provide checks and balances, and to silence him from keeping government in check.

“That all the witnesses that came to court have a problem with anyone who criticises the President, and this is not what a democratic society entails. That I have the right to speak out on the ills and atrocities committed by the President and his government,” he submits.

He says the law on seditious is archaic and inconsistent with the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of Zambia.