Presidential aspirant, Brian Mundubile and his running mate
Makebi Zulu have been blocked from visiting jailed PF senior
official Raphael Nakacinda.
After being denied entry into the Lusaka Correctional Facility
to see their colleague, Mundubile took it to his social media
handle, to register his displeasure.
“We have been denied access to see Hon. Raphael Nakachinda and
others at Lusaka Correctional Facility together with my Running
Mate, Hon. Makebi Zulu,” he said.
Sometimes in April, the then PF Pamodzi Alliance President Zulu
was denied access to visit Patriotic Front Secretary General
Nakacinda, Joseph Malanji, and others who are incarcerated at
Chimbokaila Correctional Facility in Lusaka.
After being made to stand and wait for more than one hour for
clearance from the supposed high command to visit these
leaders, he has been denied access on the pretext that
Correctional Service officers had failed to obtain clearance
from State House to allow us to see them.
The Correctional Service officers insisted that they needed
clearance from State House in order to allow him into the
facility.
Recently, Nakacinda went on hunger strike at Chimbokaila Prison
in Lusaka after allegedly being denied access to his lawyers
and the ability to communicate with them.
The development came to light today when food was taken to
Nakacinda at the prison, but he refused to receive it, stating that he was on a hunger strike.
According to Nakacinda, he has been denied access to his legal
team, denied use of a phone to speak to his lawyers, and denied
the ability to properly instruct counsel in the multiple criminal cases he is facing.
He is currently serving a sentence arising from a defamation of
the President conviction and is also involved in other serious
matters, including seditious practices and an espionage case.
The hunger strike raises grave human rights and fair trial
concerns, especially because some of the matters before the
courts carry serious legal consequences.
An accused person must be allowed full access to lawyers,
adequate time to prepare a defence, and the ability to instruct
counsel without obstruction.
Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights guarantees every accused person the right to adequate
time and facilities to prepare a defence and to communicate
with counsel of their own choosing.
The Nelson Mandela Rules on the treatment of prisoners also
require that prisoners be treated with respect for their
inherent dignity and protected from cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment.
Nakacinda is also said to be concerned for his safety inside
prison after allegedly narrating an incident in which an
unknown liquid was reportedly nearly poured on him, raising
fears that he may be at risk.
This is no longer a routine prison matter. It is a matter
touching on constitutional rights, fair trial protections,
human dignity and the rule of law.
If the State has cases against Nakacinda, those cases must
proceed before competent courts. But he must be allowed to
defend himself. He must be allowed to speak to his lawyers.
He must be allowed to instruct them. He must be allowed access
to the basic tools of justice.
A hunger strike by a prisoner facing multiple criminal cases is
a serious alarm. The authorities must urgently intervene,
guarantee his access to lawyers, investigate his safety
concerns, and ensure that his health is monitored before the
situation deteriorates further.
When an accused person stops eating because he believes the
justice system has cut him off from his own defence, the
country must pay attention.