Henry Banda, the son of the former President Rupiah Banda, has been cleared by Interpol and removed from their system after the government of Zambia failed to present charges or evidence over the past 16 months, according to a an article published in the Mail & Guardian newspaper.
According to documentation cited by the newspaper, no details of the charges were ever released and no legal case for extradition was presented to South Africa, despite numerous requests from Banda’s lawyers. Interpol confirmed that an investigation into the case notes had “raised strong doubts concerning compliance with Interpol rules” on behalf of the Patriotic Front government, the article states.
“There never were any formal charges. From inception, it has been obvious that this has been politically motivated,” said Banda’s lawyer Nicqui Galaktiou to the Mail & Guardian. ”The aim has always been to get at Rupiah Banda because of the threat he poses to the Patriotic Front government.”
The Zambian government’s failure to present a case against Henry Banda is likely to reflect positively on the defense for his father’s trials, where is he in court on one case concerning allegations of a Nigerian oil deal and another on the ownership of donated trucks, which, like Henry’s case, observers say is also politically motivated.
Neo Simutanyi, the executive director of Zambia’s Centre of Policy Dialogue, told the Mail & Guardian that he believed some of the legal claims lacked credibility, such as evidence in the form of a photocopy of a letter allegedly sent by Rupiah Banda to the then-president of Nigeria, the late Umaru Yar’Adua, which was rejected by the judge.
“Because the government has not done its homework and presented credible charges, evidence or witnesses … and there is a growing public perception that it is political victimisation. What you have is people who feel they were victimised by Rupiah Banda and the MMD and they are finding it annoying that, since leaving office, Rupiah has been gaining international recognition. They see him as a threat to PF rule in the future.”
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