Opinion: Of Bans, Blacklists & Bola: Shipolo’s Letter I conclude the series I have been writing over the past seven weeks with a letter from Sylvester Shipolo M. He says my reference to him in the article published on 9 May 2014 is false as well as wrong and has written to give his version of the events of June 5 last year at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola. In Part 3 of the series Of Bans, Blacklists & Bola, I quote Sydney Mungala, one of the three journalists were arrested and charged with espionage and criminal trespass for covering a closed training session of the national football team. Shipolo writes: “Dear Sir, I was reported in the above mentioned article, in paragraph 12, to have started looking for transport to ferry the three arrested journalist and quote, ‘while officer Sylvester Shipolo, then in charge of national team security tried to get transport to try and get us to Ndola central police station’. It is reported in the same article that the three journalists were wrongly arrested on trumped-up chargers of espionage and criminal trespass simply because one of them claimed he was banned and blacklisted by FAZ and that the trio it is claimed had the blessings from the technical bench. “It is not in dispute that the three journalists were arrested and it is not in dispute that during the period I was in charge of the national team security the duties. I am no longer performing due to the academic demands of my PHD programme. What is in dispute however is the manner in which the facts have been wrongly written. It is not true that the three had the full blessings of the technical bench and it is not true that they were arrested on an instruction from someone at Football House. “The brief facts of the true is that during the training game in question, in line with my duties, I got instructions on how to work from the Team Manager as always. Observations or advice from any member of FAZ or technical bench or coach on matters of security were getting to me through the Team Manager. I was briefed that the game was a closed game were no one including the media was to be allowed entry. I briefed my officers accordingly. Before the game started, the three journalists in question were hovering outside with the intention of wanting to get inside. I advised them accordingly and they obliged. “Whilst inside as the training game was in session I was informed that clips of the training game was being watched on a social media in Lusaka meaning someone was hidden inside filming the game. There was no cameraman on the pitch and even from the stands no one was visible. We decided to do a search with officers throughout the stadium including the lower and upper stands. A thorough search was done until the three journalists were found hiding in the lying position whilst filing in a far end corner of the western upper stands. “It is unfortunate that the article reported in the manner, falsely and in a wrong way, portraying a wrong picture firstly on the professionalism of the police as a profession, secondly on the working practices of the police officers under my charge during that session and finally on me as a person an individual capacity and as a professional police officer whilst executing duties. I write this letter to you in my individual capacity in a manner in which I felt aggrieved having mentioned in the way I was mentioned in connection with a wrong report in the article. “The expressed meaning of the article is that the three journalists were arrested wrongly and that being in charge of the National team at the time knowing quite well that they committed no crime; I went ahead and started mobilising transport. The implied meaning of alleged action is that firstly as an individual, I am accomplice to allegation of bans and blacklists of journalists by Football House and I conspire with individual at football house in implementing the policy of bans and blacklists being espoused in the article in question. Secondly, it means that I should not be entrusted with national responsibility as a law enforcer due to questionable unprofessional conduct of superintending the arrest of the innocent journalists as long as FAZ says No. Thirdly, it means that I together with my officers were a bunch of unprofessional officers who are fond of arresting people based on instructions given by Football House and not based on the fact that one has committed an offence. “The injury suffered as the result of the above is that, myself, who is mention, will suffer irreparable damage to my personal as an individual, as well as a profession as a senior police officer in the following ways. I have been exposed to media as being reported to arrest the journalists who did not commit a crime. The reputation to which I was held by reasonable members of the public as well as media has been lowered. I have suffered ridicule and embarrassment in my social life from close friends, relative and the public at large. Chances of being engaged in such future assignments have been blurred by the false reports of alleged executing unprofessionally. And finally, my chances of progressing at work have been diminished as a result of being taken to have put the name of the police in disrepute and embarrassment for being reported to have been in charge of unlawful arrests of journalists because the police train us to arrest people who have committed an offence. “What was printed in the paper will go a long way in making every effort that I am making to progress in life go to waste. Am not ready to stand by and have my name defamed for reasons which I don’t know. I have a future am working for and if not protected everything am doing is useless. I demand that you check with the writer of the article in question to confirm, including me, on each and every detail I have talked about surrounding the arrest of three journalists and after that you write a true version of what really happened on the ground. I demand that you do that in 48 hours starting now. I also demand that you make an appointment with me using the above phone number to chat the way forward on other remedial measures within 48hours starting now. Failure to abide by my demands will attract legal proceedings commenced by myself or by the lawyers without any further recourse to yourself…” Thanks for your letter, Mr. Shipolo. It was not possible for me to publish your letter 48 hours from when you sent it, which would have been Wednesday. That’s because this column only runs on Fridays and given that it was here that your name was first mentioned by Mungala, it was only fair to accommodate your correspondence here. I never suggested that you were involved in a conspiracy with Football House to stop journalists from doing their work. What I did was publish a letter Erick Mwanza in the same article stating that FAZ had instructed its match agents, security and match organising officials to bar Matimba Nkonje from all national and international soccer matches until further notice. I shared your letter with the three journalists who were reportedly arrested on your watch to read and respond—in the light of what you say about where they were found, how they were found and what they were doing. Kalumiana said: “We were up in the terraces watching the game from there. None of us was lying down on filming because we were not hiding and had nothing to hide from. Mungala concurs: “Herve Renard, the national team coach, knew we were there. We had a good working relationship with him and even when he had issues with some of what we had written sometimes, he understood what we did and accommodated us, even though the match against Division Two side Nkwiza FC was not open to the public. We did not sneak into the stadium as has been portrayed and none of us filmed anything. The allegation he makes that we could have been posting what we were filming on social media is very serious because it suggests we are not professional in what we do. What did any of us have to gain by secretly filming the national team in a training match ahead of the game against Lesotho? He is the one who said we were going to be charged with espionage and criminal trespass under the Penal Code when we arrested. ” Darious Kapembwa, one of the three who were arrested, had this to say: “Shipolo asked a fellow police officer to organise a police Land Cruiser to take us to Ndola Central Police Station before that action was aborted. Yes, the charges against us were espionage and criminal trespass. What I cannot confirm is whether someone at Football House had given instructions to arrest us.” In short, all three of them name you and are categorical in their accusation. I don’t know much about police procedure, but I am quite familiar with the Penal Code and with the offences outlined therein. So when I first heard the news about the arrest and the charges, I was numb with shock because of the gravity of the charges. I’m asking myself: so even if the three journalists were not supposed to be at the training match like you say, on the instructions of the Team Manager, surely isn’t espionage a tad too extreme a charge? If indeed what they had done was that serious, why didn’t the wheels of justice turn? Why didn’t the case proceed any further? For those not familiar with it, this is what the charge of espionage reads like in the Penal Code. “Any person who, for any purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the Republic, approaches, inspects, passes over, in the vicinity of, or enters any protected place, makes any sketch plan, model or note, or in any manner whatsoever, makes a record of or relating to anything which be or is intended to be directly and indirectly useful to a foreign power or disaffected person shall be guilty of espionage and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment of no less than 20 years but not less than 30 years…” Source: Edem’s Soul to Soul zambiareports/2014/06/13/opinion-bans-blacklists-bola-shipolos-letter/
Posted on: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 08:00:45 +0000
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