Following statements made by President Michael Sata today concerning a recent opposition press conference in Johannesburg, international lawyer Robert Amsterdam has fired back, commenting that the Zambian government is acting outside the law.
The press conference, which took place on the 12th of February, featured Movement for Multiparty Democracy President Nevers Mumba and United Party for National Develop President Hakainde Hichilema and unveiled a new 40-page filing before the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group over alleged violations of rights.
President Sata accused former President Rupiah Banda of organising the conference, and said that the former head of state was “seeking criminal asylum in South Africa.”
Amsterdam responded later in the day with a statement published on his website, describing President Sata’s comments as “misleading” and “ill-considered.”
“For a man who is suing people for millions of dollars for allegedly defaming him by talking about corruption, President Sata sure has a twisted sense of the presumption of innocence,” Amsterdam stated.
According to the lawyer, Banda “doesn’t need go anywhere to find ‘criminal asylum’ – judging by the conduct of people like Kabimba, GBM, and Kapoko, right now the PF is the world’s Casablanca for crooks.”
The statement further argued that the government violated the law by issuing an illegal summons, that former President Banda could not expect fair hearings in the context of prejudicial declarations by Sata, and that the prosecutors are running a defamation campaign without any description of an alleged crime.
“The problem with President Sata is that he knows the outcome he wants – the destruction of the multiparty system – but fails to understand that you can’t bend and mold the legal system to achieve such political goals,” Amsterdam stated.
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