Zambia police on Saturday freed the 31 university students detained on the president’s orders after they staged protests against the government’s decision to scrap staple food subsidies.
“All the students have been released after paying an admission of guilty fee of 22 500 kwacha (about $4),” police spokeswoman Elizabeth Kanjela told AFP. She did not specify what they were guilty of.
Hundreds of students from the University of Zambia had marched to President Michael Sata’s office on Friday, demanding an audience with him.
But Sata, who was away from the capital, ordered the police to arrest them. He also told the minister of education to expel the students from the university.
Hakainde Hichilema, leader of the country’s second-largest opposition party, the United Party for National Development (UPND), had earlier called on Sata to unconditionally free the students.
Hichilema said Sata’s administration had “failed to govern this country and now they are arresting everybody including students”.
The post 31 Students Released from Jail following Subsidy Protests appeared first on Zambia Reports.