The Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI) and the Southern African Litigation Center have petitioned the United Nations and African Commission special rapporteurs on freedom of expression for their urgent intervention in the case of Zambian journalist Wilson Pondamali.
Wilson Pondamali is an investigative journalist who was arrested on 16 July 2013 and charged with possession of military pamphlets. While he was granted bail, Zambian police continued to hold him in Mpima Remand Prison in Kabwe, claiming that he has attempted to escape from lawful custody. He has since also been charged with causing damage to government property – they claimed Mr Pondamali damaged a police car door handle. On 22 July, he collapsed in his police cell and was admitted to hospital where he is currently being treated for pneumonia while under tight police custody, handcuffed to his hospital bed.
MLDI and SALC believe that the true reason for his arrest is a suspicion that Mr Pondamali has links with the independent news website, Zambian Watchdog. The website, which offers independent news and is often critical of the Zambian government, frequently suffers denial of service attacks, making it inaccessible to users in Zambia.
Two other journalists, Thomas Zyambo and Clayson Hamasaka, were arrested on 9 July 2013 on similar suspicions. Mr Zyambo was charged with sedition and was due to appear in court on Friday 26 July 2013. Mr Hamasaka has been questioned on grounds of suspicion of sedition twice so far, but has not yet been charged. Equipment belonging to the three journalists – including laptops, mobile phones and other possessions – has been confiscated.
MLDI and SALC have petitioned the African Union and UN special rapporteurs to declare that Mr Pondamali’s continued detention violates his right to freedom of expression and liberty, and secure his immediate release.
Pondamali’s wife has demanded that the police should release her husband because he is sick and the polce do not have a real charge for him.
MISA Zambia chapter chairperson Nalumino Nalumno in Lusaka during the MISA Annual General Meeting held over the weekend demanded that the police must release Pondamali immedately because his arrest was politically motivated.
Catholic Media Services director Father Paul Samasumo said the PF government should stop hacking online media because this is the kind of media for the future.Samasuma said the arrest of online media journalists was a threat to the development of the media in Zambia.
Meanwhile Pondamali was expected to be released from hospital today but Doctors have advised that he could be released tomorrow.
Clayson Hamasaka was this afternoon charged with possession of obscene materials. Police claimed they found porn on his laptop which they have had for over two weeks as part of their investigations. Hamasaka is currently detained as his lawyers are trying to secure a police bond for him.
Thomas Zyambo who was also summonded today has had his bond extended and he will appear in court next week Tuesday. Officers asked him to take down some fresh notes to compare with those notes they confiscated after searching his house but he refused to comply.
[mediadefence.org]
cycle matter
It requires minimum collective intelligence to rule a country in this modern era. This is what failures resort to when they are mentally constrained.
So disgusting if you ask me! How there are treating Mr Mpondamali is very inhumane, i bet those cops tempered with that car, the president must not stay mute on this one and say in the end that police were carrying out their duty, this is not reflecting well on him, it will in the end backfire, how can you cover your eyes on such a crapy case? the cases they are dishing out on him are so made up even for an amateur, so sad for his family especially his wife and young children really traumatic, if he is a criminal, treat him with respect he has rights aswell, i mean even criminals do have rights if you insist!
A new dictatorship is being created before our eyes. After the fall of dictator Mugabe, slightly up north of Zimbabwe a new totalitarian regime is being born ….
The government is killing a fly with a hammer. The journalist is being treated like a gangster criminal.
Real dictator!! Chanda chimba was right, u police PF cadres release the journalist.
Chanda Chimba told us and we didn’t want to listen. Mugabe type of rule is now in Zambia. I wonder how the Catholic nuns and priests feel now after the campaigned heavily for this useless party.
Why is it that lawbreakers in Zambia are always sick? Either he suffers from diabetes or AIDS or something incurable and it makes me wonder why they become active or destructive and commits offences for which they know they can be arrested.
It is this ”I don’t care what happens attitude since I am dying” why some people deliberately infecting innocent people with HIV and other incurable diseases like hepatitis. Committing treason in the name of journalism is not acceptable, why would he need restricted military books? To aid the enemy? As a journalist, they should know the code of ethics, in the USA a journalist has been ordered by the court to testify against the General who supplied him with top secret military information. Reporters are not above the law or immune to laws of…
Have you been in any one Zambian holding cell? Most of these ‘accused’ and ‘imprisoned’ get infected in custody and not outside. I am not just talking about HIV here. TB, Pneumonia, dysentery, and the other blood, air and waterborne diseases, not to mention malnutrition are rife in the prison environment. Getting accommodated in our prison system for whatever reason can easily be a death sentence for even the HIV negative.
It would be easier for PF to handle the issue of the 3 journalists and related matters if the Minister of Home Affairs could insist on professionalism from the police. He can do that. Let the law be followed. People have lost trust in the police on cases touching on politics coz of many incidents of favouring the party in power. BGOCA, Mano radio, chipimo harrasing, udressing of upnd lady cadre in which cases no clear police action has been taken.
The ZWD was beyond redemption. Evil prevailed through that media. They talked about human sacrifices and showed photos without respect to human life. There is no privacy in the paper. They print whatever they get hands on. They have no codes or ethics as per media requirements. In KK era the ZNS used to come around the check houses. If one did not have a receipt for a TV set or radio, they would confiscate it. Today, when one does suspicious things and the police raid the house whatever you have which is unlawful will be held against you. There if not freedom without the law. Freedom of expression does not mean I can do whatever I want. It means I can do whatever I want within the law. If you live by the sword, you die by the sword. When you look for trouble, you find it waiting for you.
The only way to link up an accused to the contents of a computer is to either:
(1) do a joint search… mostly not possible due to time required to go thru the computer hard disk (2) create a digital image copy for the accused or his defense counsel AND then lock it up using hash algorithm (MD5, SHA1, etc) (3) If (2) above cannot be done, the copy seized by police can be SECURED using the same hash algorithms immediately after seizure… and in the presence of the accused or his defense counsel… and the hash key produced shared with the defense.
If at the time the accused contests the evidence, a hash algorithm wud be re-run on the data. If same key is produced, it means data not tempered. Otherwise means data is tempered.
Hamasaka… Contact me on [email protected] for advice.
But why is the Human Rights commission silent in the face of these atrocities?I hope Pondamali dies in their custody so that we see how they will deal with it.If they can create a crisis out of naming a stadium how would they react to a real crisis.And i hope the officer in charge’s details are kept so that one day he can answer alone to a charge of abuse of authority of office
Hamasaka…. sorry, Cyber Cop is reachable on email via [email protected]. If you need advice on how to deal with digital evidence matters… kindly contact us. We are not dealing with Nigerian Oil cases here that are straight forward… digital evidence can easily be planted…
Though I feel sorry for this guy, in the same vein I do not support lawlessness in the guise of journalism. World over journalists are answerable to the courts of law. Let journalist practice that journalism which does not infringe on the rights of others.
Peace and Prosperity to Mother Zambia.
There is no crime this guy has committed,the only problem i have seen is that PF IS the waste thing that has ever happened to zambia.I think the govt should embark on fulfilling what they promised the people of Zambia period.PF, allow the journalist do there work freely ,we the people we are mature enough to know wrong from right.The people are free to chose to read The post,Zambian watch dog,Znbc etc.In a democratic dispensation you don’t impose,you allow people to exercise there God given rights freely.Martin Luther once said,”Free at last…..free at last”.
This is indeed sad. A cadre fires a weapon at innocent people during a political campaign in Chipata he goes free. A scribe with irrelevant military material, he is arrested and handcuffed to the hospital bed. Pathetic.