· ALERT Date: April 07, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Jonathan Mukuka Violation: Beaten On April 7 2005, police in Zambia’s Nakonde district beat Zambia Information Service reporter Jonathan Mukuka, forcing him to flee into neighbouring Tanzania for one week. Armed police stormed Mukuka’s house at around 8:30 p.m. (local time) on April 7, following a report that appeared in the “Zambia Daily Mail” and aired on the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation radio news in which the journalist addressed Nakonde residents’ complaints about police releasing murder suspects from custody without charge. The residents accused the local police of corruption. Mukuka, who sounded very upset, related his ordeal to MISA-Zambia. “They stormed my house at 20h30, started beating me up, accusing me of ‘putting their lives on the chopping board.’ In the heat of the beating, I managed to hit one of them. This paved the way for me to run away from them. I hid in the next village. The following morning I fled into Tanzania,” he explained. · ALERT Date: February 23, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Webster Chatila Violation: Other Twenty-three year-old Zambian student, Webster Chatila, is facing prosecution for staging a lone demonstration against the 2005 national budget, at a rally addressed by President Levy Mwanawasa, on February 23, 2005. Chatila, was arrested in Mazabuka, about 120 kilometres from Lusaka, and charged with “Conduct likely to incite people to riot,” for displaying three home-made placards, saying: “2005 budget, will the poor go to school?” “2005 budget is dangerous to our lives – Magande (finance minister) must go,” and “The people of Mazabuka expect you to do more than you have to offer in your 2005 budget.” The following day, police reversed an earlier decision to release Chatila upon admitting the charge. He was kept in detention for another day, before being thrown into prison on February, 25, pending a court appearance. On February 28 Chatila appeared before a magistrate, and denied the charge of “Conduct likely to incite people to riot”. He was granted bail, which he applied for himself, because he did not have a lawyer. Meanwhile, MISA Zambia has decided to hire a lawyer to represent Chatila after considering his request for legal assistance. · ALERT (including updates) Date: January 16, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Media in Zambia Violation: Legislation On January 16 2005, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services (MIBS) Mutale Nalumango announced that Government will appeal against the Lusaka High Court ruling compelling her to submit to Parliament the names of board members recommended to sit on both the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) Boards as recommended by the two Ad-Hoc appointments committees appointed under the ZNBC (Amendment) and IBA Acts. Nalumango told the state owned Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) news that Government was not satisfied with the outcome of the High Court ruling and had decided to appeal against it. Nalumango said something was lacking in the judicial interpretation by the High Court and Government wanted to exhaust all possible avenues in the matter. So This Is Democracy? 2005 -139- Media Institute of Southern Africa