By Patson Chilemba
The police service has discontinued investigations into the matter where Chiefs and Traditional Affairs minister Lawrence Sichalwe distributed p0rn0graphic material, saying there was no intention on his part to send the material.
And police says they cannot charge former General Education minister David Mabumba with the production of pornographic material as there was no intention on his part to do that.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, police spokesperson Esther Mwaata Katongo said there was no intention on the part of Sichalwe to send pornographic material in social media platforms.
“No we discontinued it, I think we didn’t find anything to make him be prosecuted,” Katongo said, but reminded that it still did not discount the fact that he distributed the material. “No, iwe you have a phone there, if I want I will come tomorrow and say bring your phone here then I get your phone, since there is whatsapp, since there is Facebook there are things, videos which are on your phone which you don’t know that you have them. So that video now it goes then is there intention of sending?”
Katongo said there were videos and other materials which could be stored on ones phone without their knowledge, and could be mistakenly sent to the others.
“So how do you prove that you had them? So some cases you don’t just look at them from face value, no. You have to analyse them and see if it’s a good case to take to court. Even me sometimes if I went to videos I would be seeing a lot of videos which I have never even seen. There are times when you are fidgeting with your phone a video may even go somewhere,” Katongo said. “Iwe tawatumapo phone iwe? Because I will give you an example, there was something which came and that thing it was a subpoena from court, my subpoena from court. It was on my phone then I was somewhere in Chaminuka then my husband called me to say are you the one who has sent on the Church group then I said no, but (he said) you have sent it, when I went there it was there so it was accidentally sent.”
Katongo said such things usually happen.
“So it’s not that because they are ministers and the like we have to witchhunt them, no. We have to look at the cases,” he said.
Katongo also gave an update on the matters involving Mabumba.
“For Mr Mabumba…I will give you an example, I respond usually by giving an example. Like for you there I have called you then we are talking then here, it’s a video call, take it that it’s a video call, and that video call is meant for you and me, the two of us, not for the public consumption. You and me have got that ka understanding then I’m talking to you, you don’t know me I’m recording here then now when I record then that recording is found on my phone. So who can be charged for producing?” Katongo asked. “Two people but intention, when you talk about law, you you don’t know there, there is no intention of you producing this then I have an intention I produce. So who has committed an offence? They didn’t exchange there was nothing like exchanging I’m telling you.”
Asked if she was implying that the police would only charge the lady, Katongo said: “No, because how do you prove intention, the person who was there, because we have more information actually and we wouldn’t want to be talking about it in public.”
Katongo said the police had more information into the matter, and there was no intention on Mabumba’s part.
“So the intention was on another person who was soliciting money from Mr Mabumba. So him was not willing that there should be a production. So you you can’t be charged by the fact that you were in that video…and the person who produced is demanding for money from you, that’s extortion,” said Katongo. “So we can’t charge someone and say production, he never produced. Then the same person who produced circulated. So who are you charging for circulation? It’s something to do with Interpol, those people involved are not even based here, so it’s to do with Interpol. It may take time there are two different countries involved in this investigation. I am not mentioning.”
-Daily Revelation