FINDLAY CONTRIBUTES TO THE ECONOMY, SUPPORTS MANY FAMILIES, DEFENCE PLEADS AFTER CONVICTION
BUSINESSMAN Harry Findlay should not be sent to prison because he is a contributor to the economy, a provider to many families and an employer of a large workforce, his lawyers told the Lusaka Magistrates Court yesterday.
This was the defence’s passionate plea in mitigation after Lusaka Acting Chief Resident Magistrate Sylvia Okoh convicted Findlay on two immigration-related offences involving holding more than one passport and possession of a passport bearing a forged immigration endorsement.
Findlay was found guilty of acquiring a second Zambian passport after claiming to have lost the first, contrary to the Passport Act and of possessing a passport with a forged Mwami Border Control stamp, an offence under the Immigration and Deportation Act.
Following the conviction, defence lawyers from Milner & Paul Legal Practitioners and D. Findlay & Associates urged the court to exercise leniency, arguing that the offences were regulatory in nature and did not warrant a custodial sentence.
They told the court that Findlay employs many workers whose livelihoods, together with those of their families, depend on him, adding that he is a taxpayer who contributes significantly to Zambia’s economy through business activities and statutory obligations.
The defence further submitted that Findlay is a family man, a father and grandfather, who supports an extended family, including nieces and nephews who rely on him for survival.
They also informed the court that the businessman has a medical condition and insisted there was no evidence that he engaged in serious criminal activities, stating that imprisonment would be disproportionate to the nature of the offences.
In her ruling, Magistrate Munyinya-Okoh dismissed the defence’s earlier calls for acquittal and agreed with the prosecution that the evidence clearly established the offences.
The court fined Findlay a total of K240,000 for the two counts and ordered that he will serve up to six months simple imprisonment if he fails to pay the fine.
Kalemba