he state has entered a nolle prosequi in a case in which two Chinese nationals of Collum Coal Mine in Sinazongwe shot 13
workers.
The nolle prosequi was entered due to lack of witnesses in the case.
Appearing before Livingstone High Court Judge Ernest Mukalamutiyo was Xiao Lui 48 and Wu Jiuhua 46, who were alleged of having shot and wounded shot 13 mine workers.
The duo are managers at the Collum Coal Mine.
Facts of the matter are that on 15th October, 2010 in Sinazongwe, the two, while acting together and with intent to maim, caused grievous bodily harm to Wisbone Simutondo, Abin Sianembo, Boston Munakazela,Ward Sianene, Wallen Muntanga, Simon Simweete and Briton Sianfundu.
Others that were allegedly shot at are Rubean Siakalumbwe, Vilason Mwanamusiya, Mandinda Siamubotu, Alfred Sinuka and Bowas Shamupwaya all from Sinazongwe.
This is contrary to section 224 (A) of the penal code Cap 87 of the laws of
Zambia.
However, the state entered into a nolle prosqui when the case came up for
continued trial in the Livingstone High Court today due to lack of witnesses.
ZANIS
You can’t bite the finger that feeds you! Poor Zambia!
There must have a been a diplomatic settlement, and thats how we got those drug trafficking ladies back who were on death row…..Not bad.
I agree with #2.
What!! One must be sick upstairs not to prosecute. Zambia twasebana.
As expected, balya shinga pa?
What? No witnesses …
#2 is very right.
Come on guys, lack of witnesses, I don’t get it. How about the reporters that took the pictures above? We saw all the ministers go there to address workers. We saw pictures right here on LT of people who were shot at with their names and today you turn around and say lack of witnesses.
Please lawyers on this blog educate some of us. Are we missing something or the law is just S T U P I D ???
Although I do agree with #2, I still think the affected miners need to be awarded big sums of money for the suferings and pain as well as for lack of future earnings due to disabilities. GRZ/RB should state its position regarding compensating the VICTIMS.
#8 the law in Zambia is clear and it requires witnesses to testify in court before you can convict someone. The first thing the judge asks in any trial is are there any witnesses and if no witness step forward, the judge has the right to throw away the case.
I believe all the people who were shot at decided to settle out of court and they were compensated and the deal is there wee not to take the case to court, but the case was already in court. So the state had to wait for the hearing to come up before they entered in this nolle prosequi. There no point in proceeding with the case when all the witnesses were not going to turn up.
That is my spin on this, i hope others add to this.
#8, to add on, is their no Criminal Justice
for the poor Zambians??
Are you kidding me? Goodness lord!
#11, ‘there’
# 10 – You do not need witnesses when there’s circumstantial evidence you drum. The law of Zambia is not necesarilly different from the rest of the world. The culprits are not denying shooting – how do you need witnesses for that.
What witnesses? people who actually saw the Chinese shooting? What about the circumstantial evidence of those wounded and the firearm recovered by police? I hate how all things are treated casually in Zambia. All serious issues and cases are treated casually. I just wonder how the whole world will think of Zambia when they hear about this case, because this case was all over the BBC. Mwaba ifya bupuba mu Zambia mwena mweee, atase!!!!!!!!!!
# 14 no. 10 just gave his spin on things no need to be vulgar!!!
That’s Nice.. Next time shot 2 kill. Zambians r just like any another animals in the Park. (Zambia National Park).
yes number 2 is right drug traffic in china you are done for you are not going to see you home country ever unless only to be buried so not a bad exchange
The MMD and Ruphia must go! They have brought corruption at every level! The law in Zambia is very selective. Some people are untouchable. First it was FJT walking free; now this. What Kind of Justice system do we have in Zed?
Did you want you drug trafficking sisters to die? Appreciate that 2 lives of those women have been saved and the shooting victims have been compensated you bloggers!
This is very sad. Non witnesses when the state knows who was shot and could easily take them to stand as witnesses. I urg the people of Sinazongwe to defend themselves since the state cant defend them!
Anyway, we knew! so not surprising Twalisosele fye akale what was going to happen!!
What!?! No wit… ?!? You must be joking? You mean each and every person that was either a shooter or shootee?
ZAMBIANS WE ARE DOGS. PLAIN AND SIMPLES!!
That why we have people raising against govt that can not defend its people. What witnesses do we need in this case, the leasat we could have seen is compasating these people. people ar m yourselves and raise against this injustice. kill when you are threatened
Twasebana bane nebutushi shileimya amabaka….
Twasebana bane ne butushi shileimya amabaka mu calo chesu sure….
Ndiye malabishi manje aya ka!!!
Very annoying indeed…
Witnesses!! what witnesses?? OBVIOUSLY THE VICTIMS CAN’T BE WITNESSES – are we made to believe this BY THIS GOVT through their representative the DPP??? If this is not INSULTING THE VICTIMS, & WE ZAMBIANS at large, I don’t know what is!!!
It is time the SCH OF LAW at UNZA was THROWN ONTO THE GARBAGE HEAP, as we can OBVIOUSLY SEE HOW THE ba fi KWAKWA HAVE OUTDONE THEMSELVES ON THIS OCCASSION!!! The graduates of that school stink from miles away, starting with VP, the COURTS, LAWYERS ( talk of LAZ & their IMMENSE CAPACITY OF INERTIA & their FEEBLE RESPONSES when the nation has sought a need for legal direction!!) not forgetting the hero in this story, the DPP himself!!!
it was settled out of court, besides, the gun used is meant for birds and not big animals like human beings…………
China people go and shoot MMD thugs now since you are untouchable!
Rupiah Banda government and courts are a big joke.
Pa Zed, but nifwebo ba mbuli sana! Ukutina na ba china sure…abakulila mu fi sali.
Guys, just get guns and protect your families. Do not expect GRZ to protect its people, you are on your own. Too bad things are going the Chinese way. Money talks!
kashiwa Bulaya aisa again. Zed is full of Bullcrap, with this kind of manipulation, soon we shall have ka small libya ka!!!
Come on No 24 that is not fair ! I am not a dog !
What the f….k!!!!, very soon we will come to know that these ****kers have given out hunting licenses!
PF and UPND sit back and relax machende (machenga) the DPP will topple MMD single handedly with his sheer and utter stupidity. The bloody fool.
When there was no government! what cud we expect. Anyone cud do as they liked. Go shot a Chinese in his country and see what happens. U wil be hanged.
They wont even hang u, they will roast u alive and deport the remains of your balls on the first flight to Zed!!
evil government!! some of the workers who were shot have been permanetly incapacitated and may not do hardwork which is their means of survival. – shooting 13 people and you go freeeeee.Zambia supporting this corrupt Nollen you should be thinking activate your dead brain cells
They should just say what really happened like what #2 is saying. Why should they use lack of witnesses when all the witness were shot!
Just tells you how much value you as Zambians have even in your own country
Anywere else in the world this case would have been concluded already and the Chinese chaps would have been much safer in jail than anywhere else in the country
Shameful
GVT for foreighners
Un tamed Africa, what else do you guys need?
WHATEVER!!!! Only time will tell. One day there will be no courts and woe to the Judges with their unexplained nolle. Jah will show the way.
A precedent has been set. i can shoot someone and scare off all potential witnesses and the state will enter a nolle despite all the circumstantial evidence! Brilliant DPP!
Check Presidential opinion polls on muvitv website and submit your prefferrence.
#47, is the poll being conducted by professionals? Several polls have been conducted some by professionals and others wish wash, I am not sure about how MuviTV will ensure accuracy. So far the best and most professional opinion polls have been conducted by Dr Neo Simutanyi of the CPD. His polls have been very accurate both in 2006 and 2008, ask the Post they will tell you how they wanted to cook his poll results in 2008 to favour one Michael Chilufya of the PF fame and how Dr Simutanyi stood his ground to defend his integrity. The Post does not like people with integrity but only their own kind. That is how mmembe discarded the Doc as a Post columnist.
In Zambia, the question is not what the politicians in government can do for you, but what you can do for the politicians in government!
# 46 don’t even try. You will rot in the jail cell! The most likely thing here is like #10 put it. There was a settlement out of court otherwise you would have heard those that were shot and their families making noise. Iam sure even at government level alot of negotiations and diplomatic exchanges were made. The government can not enter a nolle without the agreement of those that are aggrieved especially in an election year.
Most cases in Zambia end just like this. This case shouldnt be any different just because it was committed by a chinese nation. Do you remember Kambalange, Kaunda’s son somewhere in the late 80s shot his girlfriend and the guy never went behind bars, second the late Castro, Chiluba’s son shot his girlfriend and the guy never went behind bars. And the latest on is Dr Musonda’s case, we are yet to hear the conclusion of that case which has already been downgraded from murder. And in our compounds most cases of rape, assault even murder ends just at the Police Post. Settlements are reached just there. Lets be realistic even when we talk about this case, there is something wrong with our laws period. And anyone who is just a little bit smart can manipulate them.
This is the only govt on the planet thats fights its own people. We need a govt that is there when it is needed most.
This shooting case is one such example when govt is needed most. The reason proffered by the DPP is the most idio.tic I have ever heard.
By the time a new govt takes the reigns of power to contemplate re-openning the case, the accused chinese men would have left the country for good
This is Justice the rupiah way
Lets elect a responsible govt that will protect its people and not fight them
The two Chinese nationals are convicts from back home and so no point of sending them again to prison
One of these days they will be race riots like in indonesia and malaysia. These Chinese will learn the hard way.
Am tod china is now # 2 to USA in this o that but what does china do to alleviate problems in world. China’s aim is; symphoning raw materials cheaply from corrupt dictatorships in africa and exporting cheap quality goods back to africa. World conflicts are dealt wit by western powers coz china is stingy. Hu njintao donated $150pin wen he visited zambia an amnt les than wat a footballer in europe earns pe week.
Where are MMD Chief Bootleaker and Senior Citizen when you need them? I am sure they can spin this as a victory for the workers. The truth is that the victims were paid and then told to remain quiet or else. No witnesses? What a lame excuse! Still, as long as Banda and Sons (a.k.a. MMD) is quids in – who cares?
Bloggers, the issue here is that the affected victims indicated to the prosecutors that they wanted to be compensated. They were then informed that if that is what they wanted, then the case wud have to be withdrawn from the court. The China men compensated them an agreed amount as negotiated for by their(victims) representatives (Lawyers). The victims felt an out of court settlement was better bcoz even if these China men were to be convicted, they wud be convicted and sent to jail as the case was the pipo(State) against the Chinamen and so the issue of compensating the victims wud fall off since saving the sentence wud be the punishment for the Chinamen. So its a good deal that they played it that way. Atleast they are millionnairs than have the Chunamen convicted but still remain…
.
This sickens me to the stomach to observe our Judicial System devalue the lives of these innocent Zambians.
MMD & GRZ – we may support you but this is really crossing the line. The accused had admitted possessing Firearms and to have fired the shots that landed into these innocent Zambian bodies. Hence, the reason they even went hiding in the early days. There was enough Circumstantial Evidence on the ground. Therefore, the call to ask for a witness does not apply.
cont…
.
Was this just a case of taking advantage of innocent Zambians because they could not afford to have good representatives in court?
Does anyone think that if a Zambian shot a Chinese national in China he/she would getaway with crime? No!!
Are the Chinese willing to compensate enough Billions of Kwacha to our brothers for the trauma that they have gone through?
These chaps maybe from Southern Province and some of us are not from that part of the country – but it hurts to see a fellow Zambian or any human being’s existence get reduced to the dungeon.
cont…
.
Does the court need us Zambians to raise money and hire Good Lawyers to appeal this case to the highest office of the Law? Yes, we can do that! And we can afford to raise that money easily!
The just way was for mining company to compensate the victims in Billions as well as letting these gun possessing culprits serve time. This is not about being against the rest of Chinese Investors but to seek what is just.
Here is a wise MMD Supporter called INDEPENDENT OBSERVER.
It’s a pity you support MMD. I read most of you comments. I agree with you on this one. There are lot of cases that have not been reported in these Chinese Mines because workers are afraid to loose their jobs. One person was kicked in copperbelt but kept quiet. He ended up taken to the hospital after a week by his wife because she saw him complain and he was finding it hard to sleep during the nighttime. When ZCCM was run by Zambians, we did not have such kind of cases. MMD knows this very well but it’s a political point to keep people employed at the cost of human abuse
What does HH and UPND say about this? They have been prostitutinng with MMD and have forgetten to care for the very people they get votes from. This just shows how greedy and desperate HH has become for power. He can not say anything to annoy his boss, RB!
It is time I bought my own gun for my own defense! This country has either gone to the dogs or the dogs have invaded my country. It is every man for himself and maybe God for all! Oh Zambia, my beloved Zambia! Where will the poor ever get justice?
Well a conviction needs evidence beyond reasonable doubt. If there are lack of witnesses, then there is little than can be done
#61 HH does not yap in newspapers, he writes to relevant authorities, as he is a man of substance. Those of you who still claim that HH is negotiating with MMD should be ashamed of themselves as nothing has materialised since 5 months ago when they started their insinuations. HH is a man of substance who could not enter into a pact with Mwanawasa who was more credible than Banda, with all the invitations he made. I know pf guys are full of fever, but remember the more you talk about HH the more popular he becomes. No recycled politicians this time around as we are ready to take care of the old in the name of Banda and Sata.
CORRUPTION AT THE EXPENSE OF PIPO WHO WHERE SHOT AT.
How can they expect witnesses from Siavonga to travel to the provincial headquartres Livingstone when they have no transport to get there. Thats why I say these experienced politicains would want to manipulate and punish people for just their own good. This was suppose to be the responsibility of Government to transport these poor people from Siavonga to Livingstone as GRZ is connected in this case through ministry of mines. No wonder recycled politicians will never win any election in this part of Zambia. Viva unexperienced politicians with a record of success.
The fact that the Chinese are willing to pay out, says alot about this case. Like 59# Independence Observer has said, it was better for the accused go behind the bars.
Is this the political experience where citizens are being killed, then killers go scot free, under my foot will I again vote for any political recycled expert. Viva HH
What !!!!!!!!!!!! ? This is rubbish if it were a zambian bouncing a simple Chq he goes in but a simple chinese tries to kill our brothers his let go free. Who ate the cheke cheke here ? or are they copying from our own muderes the police? who have shown on how it is done when people are protesting. One day we shall have a government , pembeleni ok!
Opinion polls electronically conducted reflects the direction of the well informed and dificult to manipulate class. And this is what has been happening and they come out correct, the difference comes from un targeted class that is less Privileged with other sources of information except government programmes, commissioning of projects etc.