Youth Jailed Over ‘Careless’ Military Tweet
By Dickson Jere
A Zambian youth aged 26 years old who is self styled as a Governance Activist and Businessman posted a tweet on his social media platform X (Twitter) in which he called upon the Zambian defense forces to ‘wake up’ like their colleagues in West Africa. He named Burkina Faso, Chad, and Niger as countries that have slowly liberated themselves in apparent reference to military coups that have taken place in those countries.
He then arrested and charged with the offence of inciting mutiny contrary to section 48 of Penal Code of the Laws of Zambia. He was tried in the Magistrates Court and found guilty of the offence before he was slapped with five years imprisonment with hard labour.
Unhappy with the outcome, he appealed to the High Court, raising 10 grounds of appeal, including that the sentence was too harsh. He also contended that the context of his tweet was that African countries should fight neo-colonialism and not inciting mutiny in Zambia.
The High Court Judge heard the appeal and agreed that the Magistrate was right to convict the youngman as there was overwhelming evidence that he did post the tweet and called on the Zambia defence force to emulate their colleagues in West Africa.
“This Court takes judicial notice of the fact that in recent years the West African region referred to in the tweet has experienced a rebellion by military resulting in displacement of democratically elected civilian regimes,” the Judge noted.
“It is not believable that the appellant as a Zambian, based in Zambia did nay target the Zambian military and police as the audience for his social media post,” the Judge said and upheld his conviction.
However, the Judge said Zambia was relatively a peaceful country and the youngman did not meet the soldiers to incite them to mutiny but merely used the social media platform to address them. He, therefore, agreed that the five years jail term was rather too harsh given the circumstances.
“…the appellant was simply an armchair anarchist working through his mobile telephone to target audience at large, which is distinct from the much more serious act of meeting and addressing specific servicemen and women in person,” the Judge noted.
“I find the sentence of 5 years imprisonment with hard labour to be disproportionate and excessive,” the Judge said and replaced it with two years simple imprisonment backdated when he was arrested in 2023.
The Court said the youngster should “deeply reflect on his life and transgressions and shift his mindset from that of an agent of anarchy to law abiding citizen that champions solutions…” the Judge said.
Lecture Notes;
1. The High Court used the legal principles of sentencing that targets at reforming offenders especially young ones. Being a first offender, the Court felt that the youngman can be reformed rather than jail him 5 years with hard labour for the ‘careless’ social media post.
2. This case also underscores the need to be careful with what you post on social media and be sure it is within the rules and laws of the country you are based.