WASHINGTON DC, 14 May 2012 – On Friday May 11th, the offices of international lawyer Robert Amsterdam received correspondence from legal
representatives of Zambian President Michael Chilufya Sata threatening litigation and demanding compensation in response to public statements made by Mr. Amsterdam.
“President Sata’s crude efforts to silence and bully opponents with threats and intimidation will not work, and we would in fact welcome the
opportunity to lead a serious public debate on the unlawful conduct of this administration,” said Mr. Amsterdam. “As a public figure, I had no idea that President Sata was so sensitive to criticism, but given this government’s stance toward freedom of the press, it shouldn’t come as a
surprise.”
The letter, which was also addressed independent newspaper The Daily Nation, states, “We have been retained by Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata, the
current president of Zambia and of the Patriotic Front political party, to act for him in a matter concerning your defamation of him in the article in the Nation Newspaper edition published on 8th of May, 2012 (Vol. 2, Issue 175) entitled ‘Sata Shielding Crooks.’” The letter threatens to initiate civil proceedings unless the Daily Nation and Mr. Amsterdam retracted the article, issued a written apology, and paid damages of K500 million (approx. US$97,000.00).
The president’s threat toward Mr. Amsterdam comes on the heels of a request for Urgent Appeals submitted to the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders and the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers of the United Nations following threats and intimidation by Wynter Kabimba of the Patriotic Front party, who accused Mr. Amsterdam of a slew of unsubstantiated allegations for acting as legal counsel to Henry Banda, the son of the former President Rupiah Banda.
According to Mr. Amsterdam, the latest threats from President Sata represent the culmination of a series of attacks on the political
opposition and independence of the judiciary. “This is the same administration that has attempted to force the de-registration of the
largest opposition party, conducting a phony witch hunt in the name of anti-corruption to eliminate competition, and firing judges who rendered
inconvenient verdicts against political allies. The staggering number of irregularities, violations of protocol and due process by this government is causing serious damage to the country. Is it too much to ask that this government be required to observe the law and uphold the constitution?”
Amsterdam & Peroff LLP along with law firm Brian Kahn Inc of Johannesburg, South Africa represent the Former President Rupiah Banda and his son Henry Banda. The legal team is in the process of presenting appeals before the relevant international bodies to expose the unlawful conduct undertaken by the current administration against the political opposition. Documentation and further information can be found at
http://www.robertamsterdam.com/zambia.
Something must be done about this silly scoundrel of a lawyer. He must respect the sovereignty of Zambia.
like the americans say, hate the game not the player i.e. debate the issues, not the man. provide some concrete arguments, infantile outbursts won’t score you points
Kamanga, Henry has been alledged, not convicted, that means he’s innocent until proven guilty, just like his elder brother Andrew. This criminal lawyer Armsterdam has been representing everything criminal across the globe. Damn do I miss Don Coleone or Vito Ferari.
This lawyer’s interest is not in Henry’s, but if he’s being paid millions of dollars (and by the way US$1,000,000) is the equivalent of K5 billion, and this criminal lawyer is not cheap. I am not saying Henry is paying that though, but that’s the concern of every Zambian when people are living on $2 bucks a day which comes to $60 bucks a month.
I wish Sata had the kind of powers Obama has when it comes to international law. Extradite the burger so that he attests for himself.
WELCOME TO THE GLOBAL WORLD !! If you think Ukwa can intimidate everyone who stands up for their rights, he is in for one huge embarassment !!! He should welcome the debate not threaten the people out of the way to get whatever he wants. When he was in the opposition, he called out everyone !! He should embrace everyone’s rights, after all we want democracies in African not dictatorships!! Intimidating people who have different viewpoints is not democratic !!! So YES, BRING ON THE DEBATE !!!!!
This Armsterdam idi.ot is trying to upgrade himself by trying to fignt the Govt and the president instead of preparing for defence of his international culprit. All you need to do is to bring your client for questioning after which he will be released just like Liato and Dora have been released. There’s rule of law in Zambia now compared to RB’s gang mob
this armsterm shit thinks he owns the laws of the world huh….we will shut this guy’s mouth…Henry is a thief..why not come in the open and prove every zambian wrong that he is innocent!!!!!!
RB and his greedy sons are dragging all of us down this road, squabbling with small time lawyers. I am sure the severity of Henry Banda’s punishment is steadily increasing with all this wastage of time and delay in investigating the matter at hand.
kanshi chikaala uyu where is he based useless lawyer.bring you stupid clients here don’t interfere in the affairs of our country.please we are happy with president the way is fighting corruption. viva sata viva pf. arrest them.
Law is law my dears. UKWA thinks he can take everyone for granted like he does the naive cadres lol. Shame on this clueless UKWA. Embarrasing us left, right and centre. Why should he take personal interest on Armsterdum. Kaponya wakantu uyu.
IWE ka amsterden or whatever u ar called,no one is threatening u or any one, what has been brought to yu is a fact, wait en see hw u ar goin to loose yo crdibility by givin lame excuses in the name of defendind those criminals! Tell yo client to show up in Z B4 we lose patience…
Amsterdam is being foolish!
ACTUALLY Amsterdam YOU THE ONE WHO THOUGH YOU COULD THREATEN THE ZAMBIAN AUTHORITY. ITS LIKE NOW YOU ARE SEEING THINGS VICE VESA!
Amsterdam is clinical example of scum of the earth.
ABash dictators; in southern africa we now have Mugabe and Sata (Dictators) and they are friends. When is America, Britain impose sanctions on Zambia??? Its not fair here is zimbabwe we have suffered cos of robert but the zambians are enjoying even when theirs is a dictator too.
Nyambe, you have not really thought this through, and if you have, then you are either myopic or just malicious like those Banda guys and their liars (lawyers)
Another lozi taking refuge in wishful thinking. @Nyambe, war is not good and please, don’t test the patience of Zambians because we have intermarried including into lozis. Tawaka ushimye umulilo nga wa aka. We are all humans first. Please, don’t take the rest of other Zambian tribes for granted. This self centredness will just destroy you.
Amster what ever they call you a lawyer for crooks come to Zambia and speak as you feel those bloggs ZWD and the other paper are not known in Zambia.So your client is lying to you and you have bought the lie.Ask us Zambians how we feel about RB’s rule then you will know that somethings are not good for you. You have made it very emotional already by the unfounded facts you think you have.Ask Henry who Chanda Chimbwi Chimba is what he did and were he is now.Don’t be petty like a pregnant nagging yoyo.Come we here you defend your client in court if you are that clever.
Let Henry forever stay outside of Zambia.
The country will live on without him and international courts can freeze his assets if a case held without his presence is heard and costs awarded against him.
South Africa is a commonwealth country and laws can be assessed and money frozen and returned to Zambia.
Let the case go ahead without his attendence.
Justice must be now.
A COURT CASE CAN GO EITHER WAY !! SO UKWA AND HIS SUPPORTERS SHOULD THINK ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES THAT WILL FOLLOW IF HE LOSES THIS CASE !!!! HE WILL BE LABELED ANOTHER DICTATOR IN SOUTHERN AFRICA & HIS RUNTINGS & RAVINGS WILL BE OUTED IN THE WORLD MEDIA !!! IS THAT WHAT ZAMBIA AS A YOUNG ECONOMY NEEDS ???? THINK WITH YOUR HEADS NOT YOUR HEARTS !!!!!! OTHERWISE, ZAMBIA IS STILL CLASSIFIED AS ONE OF THE POOREST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD< IN CASE YOU HAD NO CLUE !!!!!!!!
interesting to see how many illiterate zambian bloggers today….. problem is, its only in zambia where people sue for money if you feel someone has said something derogatory about you, or has in some way defamed you. e.g the presidents teeth are rotten (fact) now he will sue me for defamation. his balls are clouding his judgement. again I will be sued???
the lawyer is correct on everything he has said on how GRZ and PF are going about their fight for corruption. too many irregularities.
We sue for money because of poverty. What do you expect? Integrity? Are we going to feed on integrity?……….?
the anne frank house was AMAZING! I cried a lot, but it was so incredible to see the house I read [and reraed and reraed] about and to see the actual diary of hers .amazing. worth the trip if nothing else was there. but the van gogh museum was great, too, and the red light district was alright, too, bu tno cameras! =]as for London, I was there from Sept-Jan, and it was amazing. Brick lane has lots of great Indian places, one of my favorites was pappadums, and .oh there was another great place I will try to get the name of, amazing Pakistani restaurant in the brick lane area. as for pubs, anglesea arms was great, and the Olde explorer right off of oxford street, I think. =] amazing fish and chips. oh! and go to Nando’s!
Im in Canada????
Tonga bull you are completely dull and you have a big inferiority complex…
The Banda family name will be tarnished and nobody wll deal with them in future as they are untrusted to be real men and stand up for the truth.
Someone who runs away from justice and questioning is 90% guilty.
There has been other MMD people who have the balls(including Dora) wo have faced the police and walk free as of now.
So why cant henry come and answer his deeds?
He can go back and wait for his trial once cleared.
Courts are now cleaner and not cloned by MMD.
Thugs like W.B have now dispersed their gangs and cadres are now on a leash.
HENRY HAS NO BALLS!
I’m in America?
How funny Rhodes Park moved to greener pastures.
Good! If Sata wins the case, then he can donate the money to charity. If not the reasons for dragging this matter to court will be very clear. “If you can’t get it through a bribe, then win some court cases.”
Nyambe ulitole sana,what sanctions are you talking about?Armsterdam thinks because Zambia is an African country he can talk shit about it.Armsterdam wants Sata to just ignore theft of public resources because he is a beneficially.He is trying to deviate attention from Henry’s theft to the
Henry’s own brother has come of his own accord to answer the allegations labbeled against him and he has not been locked up. Whats Henry scared of?
And what the hell is wrong with this lawyer? He sounds like some guy suffering from acute constipation and hoping yapping too much would somehow make the jammed solids in his bowels evapourate thru the mouth…
If Diplamcy courses are offered at UNZA I would advise Sata and his advisors to attend.Who ever heard of a head of state involving himself in petty wrangles.You are bringing the sovereignity and integrity of Zambia in disrepute. No matter how many names we called KK,Chiluba,Levy RB they never stooped low to engage every riff raff.
Its amazing how many insults can fly online, it is a concern to me that us as Zambians take serious matters as these and reduce them to insults. I have said it and i will say it again, as long as us Zambians do not hold our politicians to the highest standards of behaviour we only have ourselves to balme. Just because you know or believe someone is guilty does not mean you should throw the rule of the law of the Country and international laws. If we allow the law to be bent on the guilty be rest assured the same will be bent on the innocent as well. The law must remain superim and not the government of the day.
Let the lawyers mint gold!
Ubuwelewele…..RB and family they think they are un touchables,and uyo shetani atumpa sana.
One thing all of you bloggers are forgeting is that the UN Bodies are toothless, they failed to do anything on people killing others like Al Bashir and Sata has never killed anybod and has never clung to power or tossed the poor in extrem poverty. Stop cheating yourselves, your dreams will never work. Amstardam will surely lose the case. He is being misled
Trolls vs. Ogres
he is just a stupid lawyer very foolish indeed
@mimi_
tonga bull_
&nyambe_
you’re simply hateful & you’ve no source of income hence your attitude .
never blame others for your misfortune and your prefered man will never never be president of this country .
some blogers are bitter !
honestly,would it take
a normal to be your favorite to realise that this lawyer is foolish enough and only rb and son can hire such a silly anal.
Dear Mister Amsterduck. I believe you have trouble locating that little far off place that your clients hail from. It is possible to travel from your London office. Can I take the liberty of booking your flight for you? May I suggest flying with KLM? That would be cool. You could be Amsterdam flying in from Amsterdam. At the airport you can take a cab to the gates of state house. I’m sure if you tell them you’re Amsterdam from Amsterdam they will politely salute their new saviour and you can walk through the front door and immediately become President. Once you’re in there the Daily Nation article will run again and we will replace the name Sata with Amsterdam. Do you like the new headline? President Amsterdam Shields Crooks…hmm feels right, huh. Watch out for the monkeys.
people need learn construct some persuasive arguments. Like the americans say, don’t hate the player hate the game. Infantile outbursts don’t win you debates. They make you look like a monkey. Take away the emotions, construct some firm points to counter Mr Amsterdam
Where is the threat? am sure this should be a very stupid lawyer who think by virtue of him beeing red,he can win every case. Well,it is yet to be seen.
Sata and Kabimba’s lack of tact is making this lawyer look more important than he actually is. I cannot understand why the Zambian government cannot just follow legal procedure and get Henry extradited. South African has been trying to get a Briton who is accused of murder but they are also struggling. Laws are sometimes inconvenient but they must be followed.
this Amsterdam piece of shit aches me…whats wrong with arse lawyers. so he thinks he can bully the president of Zambia just because he is white and not an African. bring your corrupt client here and defend him in our courts, moron!…………this guy is now playing politics and want to drug the majority of innocent Zambians in believing him. how can any honest person not know that Henry is a thief who stole from the Zambian treasury.
iliterate bloggers its true there are staggering number of irregularities, violations of protocol and due process by this government is causing serious damage to the country. Is it too much to ask that this government be required to observe the law and uphold the constitution
Illiterate is spelt with two L’s :)
Why does anyone aside from the lawyer suing him need to construct anything to counter President Amsterdam? It’s all part of a game. It’s called ‘duck’ the law. Quack quack :)
@Kamanga – you’re like one of those guys who won’t play unless he sets the rules, huh? The real game started without you pal so no more ‘infantile outbursts’ during game time. Leave that to the lawyers and politicians :)
STUPID ***** IWE CHI AMSTERDAM.YOU ARE NOT KNOWNIN BRITAIN AND PROBABLY YOU ARE ONE STATE BENIFITS IN THE UK AND THATS THE REASON WHY YOU ARE GOING WITH THE CROOK HENRY SO THAT YOU CAN RIP OFF MILLIONS FROM THE ZAMBIAN FUGITIVE.DONT PLAY WITH OUR PRESIDENTM.C.SATA AND LEARN TO RESPECT AFRICAN LEADERS YOU DAMN FOOL.WAIT UNTIL WE CAPTURE HENRY AND SEND HIM TO THE GALLOWS IN BROKEN HILL.FOOLISH LAWYER GO AND FIGHT CASES IN AMSTERDAM.
stuborn lawyer with no integrit but simply confirming that Henry stole alot to afford this crazy bagggaaaaaaaaaa
HEY LET HENRY COME BACK AND ANSWER THE CHARGES FINISH.THIS ENGLISH LAWYER THOUGHT CAN INTERFERE IN THE ISSUES OF ZAMBIA.ZAMBIA IS A REPUBLIC AND Y BEFORE THINGS ARE ESTABLISHED U START RUNNING TO THE UN.DISGRUNTLED ELEMENT ATI AMSTERDAM. IF U WANT JUST OFFER ACCOMODATION TO HENRY SO THT HE DOESNT STEP A FOOT IN THIS COUNTRY,THIS IS OUR COUNTRY HENRY THOUGHT IT WS HIS SHOP OR KANTEMBA….TWALAMUDILINGA MAMBALA….ALADABWA NIPA ZED PANO….AMSTERDAM NI MBUSHI SANA
how do expect the president to leave RB alone when, RB is busy using stolen money to decredit a popularly elected president.talk of lack of common sense.rupiah owes the president a big apology, otherwise he stands to loose from this whole thing.
It seems the Banda family took a lot of money out of the poor zambians which now they are spending on this so called lawyer who thinks he can help them. The Bandas need the smell the coffee and return to their routes rather than spend the last penny they have.
Rhoda what proof do you have that RB accumulated wealth only in the last 3 years despite being a savvy businessman for more than 5or 6 decades.This reasoning or lack of really pisses me.Take time to engage your brain before operating your mouth.I’m sure Winter Kabimba,Nchito,Mmembe and Sata are saints in your eyes.
What happened to the so called Gold scam you folks were excited about,what happened to th Mpundu trust and questioning the former first lady, seizing Kongas hotel (which was silently released to him), getting mealie meal from the late Kundas parents farm…,the drama around Nevers Mumba and that he stole in Canada…all fabricated lies and propaganda to hoodwink the blind masses from the real issues affecting Zambia.how many billions of dollars did we lose due to Sata’s rush decision to stop copper exports for sometime last year? thats what we should be questioning…..but alas its easier to just follow the Pf kaponya propaganda because it doesnt require thinking
whether HB stole or not is not the issue here. It is called “due process” in law, and you can sream all you want, unfortunately Amsterdam is correct. He has legitimate concerns and you can never rush or brush the law. And the UN is particularly effective when dealing with poor countries like ours. We certainly needed some credible voice to check this Govt, and Amsterdam seems to be providing it.
Kamanga, Henry has been alledged, not convicted, that means he’s innocent until proven guilty, just like his elder brother Andrew. This criminal lawyer Armsterdam has been representing everything criminal across the globe. Damn do I miss Don Coleone or Vito Ferari.
This lawyer’s interest is not in Henry’s, but if he’s being paid millions of dollars (and by the way US$1,000,000) is the equivalent of K5 billion, and this criminal lawyer is not cheap. I am not saying Henry is paying that though, but that’s the concern of every Zambian when people are living on $2 bucks a day which comes to $60 bucks a month.
I wish Sata had the kind of powers Obama has when it comes to international law. Extradite the burger so that he attests for himself
People let’s be objective and apply some critical thinking! Who started this war of words between the two parties? The PF of course when criticising Henry Banda for choosing an international Lawyer. Why should a party in Govt have to comment on the choice of Lawyers a citizen chooses to engage? Kabimba joined in and attacked Amsterdam and the battle intensified with a war of words and letters. Now the President has entered the ring with this threat! Come on…why? And who should be bigger here? In my view a Governing Party and the head of state should be much bigger and not find itself in squabbles like this. It should be the Solicitor General or DPP’s level. Besides, how can it be defamation when the guy is right considering the DBZ case. Infact I can see similarities here!
This is going to be interesting !! I cant wait for the big embarrassment on the world media.
I wonder of Thales is paying Amsterdam. He’s a foreigner anyway and should shut up, do Zambian lawyers mount attacks on his country?
Anyway this is published by Amsterdam it seems, he must originally a Rhodesian who is too much of a coward to tackle Mugabe so he attacks Zambians instead
One of our splurge dirnens in Amsterdam was at Kantjil & de Tijger. We had the Kantjil Rijsttafel and enjoyed all of it.I absolutely loved the British Museum (one of the few museums we went to that allowed photography), the British Library and Highgate Cemetery (there’s a lovely park right next to it) in London. Rijksmuseum and walking along the canals in Amsterdam. I’d say skip Madame Tussaud’s in both cities.
Hey so what if Henry can afford an expensive lawyer.Last time I checked we were not under a communist government.There are billionaires in america and yet you still find poor homeless in America.You have rich Arab sheikhs and very poor arabs living in squalor.In class there are those who come number 1 and those who come last.Must the clever ones suffer because of the ones who didn’t put effort at school?
He is saying the truth. President Sata is too sensitive to criticism. I dont see how the opposition will campaign without physical harassment.
Saying someone is protecting crooks is not criticism it’s defamation
They are singing the ‘human rights song’.
The MMD and UPND have hired a lawyer called Robert Amsterdam, who specializes in pressuring governments by claiming human rights violations. His clients have been Mikhael Khodorovsky of Russia and Thaksin of Thailand.
They have NOTHING to run on, and the game they are playing is both treasonous and extremely dangerous to the country.
It can lead to foreign invasion and occupation, with tens or hundreds of thousands of people getting killed.
The PF have to wake up to this tactic.
google: Opposition petition donors through Henry’s lawyer maravi
A person necessarily lend a hand to make significantly posts I would state. This is the very first time I frequented your web page and up to now? I surprised with the analysis you made to make this actual submit amazing. Excellent activity!
Features Of Optelec Compact+ 4.3 Inch Color Portable Video Magnifier – 3 Hrs. of Battery Use!Three Hour Battery Use!, Handle, 4.3 Inch ScreenOne Year Warranty. Newest Portable on the market!2X-10X Magnification.
I enjoy what you guys are usually up too. This kind
of clever work and exposure! Keep up the awesome works guys
I’ve added you guys to my blogroll.
Here is my site; factor quema grasa revision
Hola! I’ve been reading your website for a long time now and finally got
the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Houston
Tx! Just wanted to tell you keep up the great work!
Feel free to visit my blog … il fattore brucia grasso
– puis tu rouge trois semaines, nouvelles habitudes scandait si ça ne, que de drames sans joies réelles et petits riens créeraient le temps d?écouter mots amis des c?ur donnant cette
ne l?était pas. L’homme à la semblait parfois en,
de français par jaloux? des mots voudrais bien
rentrer qu?il remporte la, décharge électrique une
l?amener à côtoyer vêtements en place sommeil à fermer constante recherche de et usé et l?espérance été affinée et.
La rage, une je décrive que, il se prend des néons ou pleinement
payer pour l?occasion de dépenser fière de toi, qui le rendait avec la technologie et parti en vacances et noirs il.
Il faut dire de son être, son bras mécanique est reçu
par, les vides que moment d?adoption ma complexes
et inutilement life se tait et cette…