WHAT TYPE OF LIBERAL DEMOCRATS ARE THESE?
Zambia Police has arrested and charged
NDC President Saboi Imboela for the offence of Hate Speech following a complaint by State House media director Clayson Hamasaka.
According to the Police, Ms Imboela has been charged for the offence of Libel Contrary to Section 191 of the Penal Code, Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia. And a warn and caution statement has been recorded from Ms. Imboela for the offence of Hate Speech Contrary to Section 65 of the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act Number 2 of 2021 of the Laws of Zambia. Police have detained Ms Imboela at Kabwata Police Station.
It is shocking that State House which is behind the notoriously defamatory Koswe can comfortably use criminal defamation laws against their opponents! What type of double standards is this? And what type of liberal democrats are these who do not hesitate to use criminal laws to criminalise speech they detest? Anyway, as usual, they are just tyrants pretending to be liberal democrats when they know nothing and are not committed to liberal values, principles and traditions.
Defamation, in liberal democracies, is not a crime, but it is a “tort” – a civil wrong, rather than a criminal wrong. The person who has been defamed – the “plaintiff” can sue the person who did the defaming – the “defendant” – for damages. Defamation law tries to balance competing interests: on the one hand, someone shouldn’t be able to ruin your life by telling lies about you; on the other hand, people should be able to speak freely without fear of litigation over every insult, disagreement, or mistake.
Political and social debate is important in a free society, and we obviously don’t all share the same opinions or beliefs. For example, political opponents often reach opposite conclusions from the same facts. This is the position of liberal democrats.
Criminal defamation is for despots, tyrants. But how many people are they going to arrest and prosecute in this way? This will boomerang.
We demand the immediate release of Ms Imboela and the dropping of all these tyrannical charges against her.
Fred M’membe
President of Socialist Party