Ruling in Chimba Case Delayed Again For the second consecutive time, the ruling on the case in which freelance journalist and Stand Up for Zambia documentary film maker Chanda Chimba, III has applied to the Lusaka Magistrates Court to have the State amend one of the charges slapped on him has failed to take place. The matter was set for 14:00 hours on Monday October 20, 2014 before Principle Resident Magistrate Obbister Musukwa. After waiting for almost an hour in the court corridors Chimba and the other accused persons he is appearing with, former Information and Broadcasting Minister Lt. Gen. Ronnie Shikapwasha and former Information Permanent Secretary Dr. Sam Phiri were informed that Magistrate Musukwa was not available and a fresh date would have to be set. The matter also failed to take off on Friday 17 October, 2014 first at the pre agreed time of 08:00 hours sharp as demanded by Magistrate Musukwa then again at 14:00 hours as he said to have been attending a meeting at the High Court. One of the Marshals in Court 3 was heard talking to Magistrate Musukwa on the phone and it turned out to be that the Magistrate was held up in the city traffic while on an errand to look for motor vehicle paint. He was instructing the Marshal to find suitable dates and had actually suggested Tuesday October 21, 2014. However this date was not suitable for both the prosecution and the defence with the only available date being November 11, 2014. Strangely enough, his time around the three accused persons did not even appear before any other Magistrate to have their case mentioned. In this matter Chimba is charged with two counts of unlawful printing and publishing and one count of being found in possession of property reasonably suspected to be proceeds of a crime amounting to K611, 440,433.12 (in old currency) while Gen. Shikapwasha and Dr. Phiri are charged with abuse of office. On October 8, 2014 Chimba through his lawyer Maj. Charles Lisita of Central Chambers applied that Count 6 of his indictment – of being found in possession of property reasonably suspected to be proceeds of a crime be amended and is relying on Section 213-1 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) which states that ‘Where, at any stage of a trial before the accused is required to make his defence, it appears to the court that the charge is defective either in substance or in form, the court may, save as in section two hundred and six otherwise provided, make such order for the alteration of the charge, either by way of amendment of the charge or by the substitution or addition of a new charge, as the court thinks necessary to meet the circumstances of the case’. According to section 213-1 of the CPC, if granted the application, Chimba may demand that the witnesses, or any of them, be recalled and give their evidence afresh or be further cross-examined by the accused or his advocate and, in such last-mentioned event, the prosecution shall have the right to re-examine any such witness on matters arising out of such further cross-examination. But even if the ruling does not go in Chimba’s favour he still has a right to raise a constitutional issue and apply that the application be referred to the High Court for interpretation more so that Article 18 of the Zambian Constitution requires that the charge an accused person is slapped with must be as clear as possible. In this matter which first went to court on January 10, 2013, Chimba and Phiri are both represented by Maj. Lisita of Central Chambers while Gen. Shikapwasha is represented by Hobday Kabwe from Hobday Kabwe and Co. The State is represented by Martin Mayembe of the Anti-Corruption Commission, ACC. Chimba, Shikapwasha and Phiri are all on Police Bond. Magistrate Musukwa who is now based in Ndola is now expected to deliver ruling on November 11, 2014 at 09:00 hours. zambiareports/2014/10/20/ruling-chimba-case-delayed/
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 14:52:08 +0000
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