Fube slams arrests

By GIVEN BANDA

CHILUBI Member of Parliament Mulenga Fube says the arrest of opposition political party leaders is meant to instill fear so that they do not make any political demands from Government.

Speaking when he featured on Millennium TV programme dubbed Law and Order, Mr Fube said the arrests are meant to inconvenience and silence opposition political party leaders so that their voices can be removed from the public domain.

He said the justice system and presumption of innocence is no longer functional because the trend now is to make arrests then later look for cases.

Mr Fube also said it is easy for the police to make arrests before finding one with a case to answer because the move is being influenced by those controlling the instruments of power.

He also pointed out that article 18 of the constitution clearly talks about being presumed innocent until proved guilty in a court of law but in some cases some individuals have been labelled guilty even before being tried.

Mr Fube said the civic space is shrinking under the UPND because what is enshrined in the bill of rights like freedom of expression, association and assembly is not being upheld as the freedom of expression is attracting flimsy charges.

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