Zambia opposition leader moved to maximum security jail
Zambia's opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, who's facing treason
charges, said Friday he had been moved from a prison in the capital
Lusaka to a maximum security jail in a small town.
Hichilema was arrested in April for allegedly failing to give way to
President Edgar Lungu's motorcade and has so far been held in detention
for two months.
A magistrate court on Thursday ruled that he should face trial for treason in the High Court, dismissing requests by his lawyers to throw out the charge.
"We can confirm that we have been moved to Mukobeko Maximum Prison in Kabwe. We arrived a few minutes ago," he said in a Facebook post.
"We don't know what is happening but we are not bothered by processes," he added.
According to his lawyer, Jack Mwiimbu, armed police officers at the
Lusaka prison had earlier bundled Hichilema and five co-accused into a
van and drove them to the city airport,
Mwiimbu described his transfer to Kabwe, about 150 kilometres north of Lusaka, as 'illegal'.
"There was a court order that they should be at Lusaka prison but they
have gone against it. He was forcibly removed from Lusaka prison,"
Mwiimbu told reporters outside Lusaka Central Prison where Hichilema had
been detained since April 11.
The treason case against Hakainde Hichilema, a wealthy self-made
businessman who turned 55 last Sunday comes after he made a fifth
unsuccessful bid for the presidency last year.
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