Zambia: Free Those Jailed for Witchcraft -By Leo Igwe

The Advocacy for Alleged Witches urges the Zambian authorities to release persons jailed for planning to kill the present using witchcraft. According to the report, in December, state authorities arrested two men, Leonard Phiri, who is a village chief, and Jasten Mabulesse Candunde, who is a Mozambican citizen, for practicing harmful magic. The arrest happened after a cleaner heard a strange noise and alerted the authorities. State officers found different ‘charms’, including a live Chameleon, red cloth, some white powder, and an animal’s tail. A local court interpreted these items as charms and the intent of the possessors as to ‘kill’ the president. Designated as enemies of the state, the two men were sentenced to two years in prison with hard labor.

The sentencing of these men is embarrassing; it is a judicial charade that illustrates how the judicial system in Zambia is out of step with 21st-century norms. The judgment sounds like a text from the medieval playbook, raising many questions about Zambia’s politics and justice system. First, if the Zambian judiciary had nothing to hide, why did it change its decision to allow this trial to be broadcast live on television? Second, what makes possession of chameleon, red cloth, white power, and animal’s tails, possession of charms? Who determines what constitutes a charm? How is such a determination made? Third, how can a chameleon, a red cloth, some white powder, and an animal’s tail kill the head of state or any person? How did the court establish beyond a reasonable doubt that these objects could harm someone, in this case, the president?

The Advocacy for Alleged Witches condemns the sentencing of Leonard Phiri and Jasten Mabulesse Candunde for witchcraft. The judgment is a legal throwback and a miscarriage of justice. It has made Zambia a laughingstock in the international scene. I enjoin local and international human rights agencies to appeal the judgment and ensure it is quashed. Witch hunting has no place in contemporary Zambia, Africa and the world.

Zambian authorities should free Leonard Phiri and Jasten Candunde because they committed no offence; they broke no law. Phiri and Candunde are victims of real and political witch hunts in the country. Please, President Hichilema, Free Leonard Phiri and Jasten Candunde Now. Witchcraft is superstition.

Leo Igwe directs the Advocacy for Alleged Witches