ARREST SIMFUKWE KILLERS
…Rights NGO blasts police for trying to shield killers
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Police must arrest his killers instead of shifting the blame to their victim
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Vigilante-style killings are illegal, unconstitutional and immoral.
By Mast Reporter
AS ATTEMPTS intensify to cover up the cold-blooded murder of 26-year-old Enock Simfukwe in Chisamba and shield his ‘politically connected’ killers, so are calls for justice and accountability also increasing.
The torture and brutal murder of Simfukwe through barbaric methods cannot be justified by mere suspicion and police must arrest his killers instead of shifting the blame to their victim, a human rights advocacy organisation has said.
The Zambian Civil Liberties Union (ZCLU) said in a statement yesterday it was deeply outraged by the brutal torture and murder of Simfukwe in Chisamba area at a farm owned by well-known farmer Maria Zaloumis and her partner, Nathaniel Chinyeremi Barthram.
“The torture and killing of Enock Simfukwe through the use of ropes and other barbaric methods cannot be justified by the mere suspicion that he may have been planning to commit a crime,” ZCLU acting deputy executive director Derrick Chekwe said.
Simfukwe was battered to death while his hands and legs were tied up with ropes after he was allegedly caught trespassing on a farm in Chisamba allegedly with an intention to commit a crime.
Chekwe said his organisation would not accept a justice system where ordinary citizens accused of minor offences languished in detention facilities while those with influence were treated with kids’ gloves and allowed to escape accountability.
He condemned the diversionary statement issued by the Zambia Police Service in which it seemed to shift the blame to the young man for the injuries his captors inflicted on him and his subsequent death.
“We are appalled by the lukewarm response of the Zambia Police Service whose public statement appears to blame the deceased victim instead of pursuing the clear course of justice. This is unacceptable. Law enforcement exists to protect life and uphold justice and not to excuse,
sanitise, or shield those implicated in heinous crimes,” Chekwe said.
He said Zambians could not and should not be made to believe that certain individuals, because of their social or economic status, were above the law.
Chekwe said Simfukwe had not committed the alleged offence.
“Vigilante-style killings are illegal, unconstitutional and immoral. No person, no matter their station in life, has the authority to mete out instant justice. We demand the following, with immediate effect,” he said.
Chekwe urged the police to arrest all the individuals directly involved in the torture and killing of Simfukwe without exception.
“Failure by the police to act decisively will embolden a dangerous culture where ordinary people in compounds and farming blocks believe they can mete out ‘instant justice’ on suspected offenders. This would set Zambia on a perilous path where the rule of law is replaced by mob
Violence,” he said.
Political scientist Dr Chris Zumani Zimba has condemned the brutal torture and murder of Simfukwe.
Dr Zimba said Sinfukwe’s murder had opened a new test for the principle of rule of law and good governance under the United Party for National Development ( UPND) government.
“With politically exposed people being accused to be at the centre of this cruelty, Zambians are closely monitoring to see if this government is still committed to protecting citizen’s rights and lives fairly and as per law or they are running a jungle state system of big political masters against smaller people and vulnerable voters,” he told The Mast in an interview.
“So far, the statement from Zambia police implying that the victim was on the wrong side is openly and publicly being rejected and denounced by many people. It is a bold statement of ‘no confidence in the police’ to the effect that the State must be more careful in handling such complex issues bordering on human life.”
Dr Zimba said the police risk being seen as biased, unprofessional, compromised and untrustworthy by issuing such questionable statements.
“I call upon the State to own up and prioritise to retain public confidence in the murder of Simfukwe before it’s too late. The Zambia Police must use this murder case since it is in public domain to demonstrate they exist to enforce laws, maintaining societal order, preventing crime, professionally investigating crimes, protecting human lives and property, responding to emergencies and engaging with communities” he noted.
Forum for Democracy and Development ( FDD) spokesperson Anthony Chibuye demanded that police fully investigate the torture and subsequent death of Simfukwe by well-known assailants.
“As a party, we strongly condemn the act of torture which is on camera where the purported deceased person was heard pleading for mercy. The police must ensure that nothing is left unturned and only justice should prevail,” Chibuye said.
Former Patriotic Front (PF) secretary general Mumbi Phiri demanded that there be no sacred cows in the dispensation of the law.
“All those linked to this torture and murder must be picked up to assist with police investigations and it is the duty of the court to exonerate them and not police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga,” Phiri said.
She recalled how President Hakainde Hichilema during a national address linked her to the murder of UPND cadre Lawrence Banda, which resulted in her malicious prosecution and subsequent withdrawal of her case in the Mongu High Court.
“The President did not say I pulled the trigger of the gun but he said I was near the scene of the murder and I was arrested and cleared by the court,” she said.
Phiri urged the police to do the right thing and allow the due process of the law.
Police have come under fire for indirectly justifying the torture and killing of the young man saying he had gone to the farm to harm the owner.
But a video that has since gone viral on social media indicates that the victim was tied up with ropes when he was being tortured and ‘interrogated’ by his captors, which suggests he did not pose any immediate danger to them.
