15 May 2017•Update: 16 May 2017
By Francis Maingaila
LUSAKA, Zambia
A Zambian magistrate court has acquitted opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema of the charge of using insulting language on Monday.
The head of the United Party for National Development (UPND), who has been detained for over a month, was acquitted for lack of evidence a week after the Director for Public Prosecutors dropped other charge of disobeying statutory orders. A charge of treason still remains.
Judge Greenwell Malumano told the court that the police officer who arrested Hichilema lied under oath when he claimed to have been insulted by the accused as he was investigating the treason charge.
"But evidence on record shows that, no investigation was made and the officer never visited the scene of a crime [...]. If he did not visit the scene of crime then he was not insulted," said the judge.
The decision on whether the treason case has merit to stand trial will be made on May 22.
