(Johannesburg) – The conviction and sentencing of a leading opposition member to 18 months in prison with hard labor will have a broad chilling effect on the right to freedom of expression in Zambia, Human Rights Watch said today.
Raphael Nakacinda, secretary general of the main opposition party, Patriotic Front, was sentenced on May 17, 2024, for his 2021 remarks “defaming the president,” a criminal offense that the president abolished in 2022. President Hakainde Hichilema had earlier said that the law on criminal defamation of the president “inhibits the growth of democracy and good governance, impedes human rights and basic freedoms.”
“Sending a leading opposition figure to prison under a law that previous administrations have notoriously used to silence critics is a blot on President Hichilema’s record,” said Idriss Ali Nassah, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The administration should quash Raphael Nakacinda’s conviction, release him, and stop prosecuting political opponents and others under this revoked law.”
In December 2021, Nakacinda alleged that President Hichilema had summoned judges to his residence to intimidate and coerce them into passing judgments favorable to him in legal battles with the Patriotic Front. Hichilema’s spokesperson dismissed the allegation as “contemptuous,” and said that “law enforcement agencies must not hesitate to hold accountable those who will abuse basic constitutional freedoms to peddle malicious and baseless attacks against other members of the public.”
Nakacinda, 43, was sentenced under section 69 of Zambia’s penal code, which had made it a criminal offense for “any person who, with intent to bring the President into hatred, ridicule or contempt, publishes any defamatory or insulting matter, whether by writing, print, word of mouth or in any other manner.” Those convicted face up to three years in prison.
In 2022, President Hichilema assented to Penal Code (Amendment) Bill No. 25, which repealed section 69, effectively abolishing the crime of defaming the president. He later wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he had repealed the law as part of his commitment to democracy as it is “the democratic right of every citizen to be able to exercise their rights.” According to media reports, the magistrate who sentenced Nakacinda said that she was aware that the law had been repealed but still convicted Nakacinda as a deterrence to others.
In Zambia, the charge of criminal defamation of the president has been used for decades to prosecute critics of the government and journalists. When elected president in 2021, Hichilema promised to amend laws that inhibit basic human rights and freedoms.
However, the media reported that in 2022 alone, at least 12 perceived critics and opponents of Hichilema had been arrested for insulting the president, some multiple times. For example, in September 2022 the authorities arrested Sean Tembo, president of a smaller opposition party, Patriots for Economic Progress, and charged him with “defaming the president.” He is facing another two charges for using insulting language against the president, a separate offense under section 179 of the penal code, in August and October 2023, to which he pleaded not guilty.
These charges raise concerns that President Hichilema intends to use the law, like his predecessors, to stifle critical voices and deter criticism, Human Rights Watch said.
