POLICE HAVE BECOME A PUNISHING UNIT
…. these actions will backfire one day, warns Dr M’membe
Chilanga, Friday, September 1, 2023 ( Smart Eagles)
Leader of the opposition Socialist Party (SP) Dr Fred M’membe has castigated the police over their conduct in relation to the arrest of his Patriots for Economic Progress -PEP president Sean E. Tembo.
Speaking when he paid him a visit at Balmoral Police Station in Chilanga, Dr M’membe said the police have become a punishing unit.
He wondered what the intention for taking Mr Tembo to Chilanga without notifying anyone was.
“To take Mr Sean Tembo all the way from service Headquarter to here, to a cell where there is nobody other than himself, a cell that is not occupied by anybody, what is the purpose? One day, these actions will backfire. One day, someone will die in their hands and they will have difficulties explaining,” he warned.
“Our simple advice is let them desist from this conduct. They can arrest people in a better way. There are better ways, there are right ways to do things.”
He said it is difficult to understand the behavior or the conduct of the police.
“Why should the police lie to the lawyers of the suspect? Telling them they are taking him from Force Headquarters to Kabwata? In between, they bring him here, far away, without notifying anybody. Until this morning, nobody knew where he was. The policies increasing in being used to punish…. It is not the job of the police to punish. Punishment should only be done by courts of law, when someone has been convicted,” he said.
“Where is the presumption of innocence until proven guilty? We have warned that the attempt to use the police to fix political opponents will not work. It will not solve any problem; it will actually create more problems.”
He further elaborated that the conduct will compound “whatever little problems we have and then make them bigger and bigger.”
He stressed the need for citizens to be arrested in a more humane way if they commit a crime.
“Get him prosecuted and if he is acquitted, that is it. If he is convicted, let the law take its course. Mr Sean Tembo was arrested last year, detained for so many days. To date, none of those issues have been taken to court. Ambassador Mwamba here was arrested, abducted, treated in the most barbaric way, assaulted actually, to date, he has never been taken to court,” he said.
“I am in a similar situation. I was arrested amidst drama. To date, there is no record that has been taken to court to get me prosecuted. We were supposed to be in Serenje on Monday. The police have phoned my lawyers today that they are not ready. What is the problem? Why arrested people if you have not investigated? The police are supposed to investigate and then take action. And even when they are arresting you, they are telling you we have investigated and we have found that you have committed a crime or you are suspected to have committed a crime, and we are charging you.”
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