{"id":8583,"date":"2026-08-31T22:03:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T22:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/home\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason"},"modified":"2026-09-01T23:00:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T23:00:42","slug":"zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason","title":{"rendered":"Zambia Opposition Leader Charged with Treason"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press. <\/strong> <\/span>The lawyer for Zambian opposition leader Brian Mundubile announced that a charge of treason has been brought against him amid rising political tensions in the country. Mundubile was arrested following a violent raid conducted by authorities, prompting the opposition politician to go into hiding.<\/p>\n<p>He had contested the results of the recent presidential elections, in which current President Hakainde Hichilema won a second term. Authorities accused Mundubile&#8217;s party, the NRPUP, of planning an armed rebellion, which the party denied.<\/p>\n<p>Milner Katulo, Mundubile&#8217;s lawyer, announced the treason charge against his client. Katulo stated to a local source that the opposition leader looks forward to responding to this charge in court.<\/p>\n<p>The lawyer added that 17 other individuals, including Mundubile&#8217;s deputy, Makibi Zulu, have also been charged with treason. Mundubile received 38% of the votes in the August 13 elections, while Hichilema garnered 60%, according to official results.<\/p>\n<p>The day after the elections, security forces raided a property in the capital Lusaka linked to Mundubile, resulting in the death of a former minister and the arrest of several other politicians.<\/p>\n<p>Following the raid, Mundubile and Zulu sought refuge in a United Nations building in the city. The two were detained after the president pressured the UN to hand them over.<\/p>\n<p>The opposition was unable to legally contest the election results, as authorities closed the courts on Monday, the last day allowed for filing lawsuits. Hichilema is scheduled to be sworn in for a second term on September 1.<\/p>\n<p>Regional and international observers described election day as largely peaceful, but the Zambian Human Rights Commission has called for accountability regarding the fate of individuals whose whereabouts remain unknown following the arrests and security operations conducted during the elections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Africa<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press. The lawyer for Zambian opposition leader Brian Mundubile announced that a charge of treason has been brought against him amid rising political tensions in the country. Mundubile was arrested following a violent raid conducted by authorities, prompting the opposition politician to go into hiding. He had contested the results of the recent presidential elections, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":8582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[120],"class_list":{"0":"post-8583","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-policy","8":"tag-africa"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Zambia Opposition Leader Charged with Treason - Africa Press English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The lawyer for Zambian opposition leader Brian Mundubile announced that a charge of treason has been brought\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zambia Opposition Leader Charged with Treason\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The lawyer for Zambian opposition leader Brian Mundubile announced that a charge of treason has been brought\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Africa Press English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-31T22:03:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-01T23:00:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/09\/sm_1788303493.860003.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"528\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Zambia Opposition Leader Charged with Treason\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-31T22:03:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-01T23:00:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason\"},\"wordCount\":302,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/09\/sm_1788303493.860003.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason\",\"name\":\"Zambia Opposition Leader Charged with Treason - Africa Press English\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/09\/sm_1788303493.860003.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-31T22:03:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-01T23:00:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The lawyer for Zambian opposition leader Brian Mundubile announced that a charge of treason has been brought\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/09\/sm_1788303493.860003.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/09\/sm_1788303493.860003.jpg\",\"width\":768,\"height\":528,\"caption\":\"Zambia Opposition Leader Charged with Treason\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Zambia Opposition Leader Charged with Treason\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Press English\",\"description\":\"\u0623\u0648\u0644 \u0645\u0648\u0642\u0639 \u0625\u0641\u0631\u064a\u0642\u064a \u064a\u0643\u062a\u0628 \u0628\u0644\u063a\u0629 \u0628\u0644\u062f\u0627\u0646\u0647\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Zambia Opposition Leader Charged with Treason - Africa Press English","description":"The lawyer for Zambian opposition leader Brian Mundubile announced that a charge of treason has been brought","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Zambia Opposition Leader Charged with Treason","og_description":"The lawyer for Zambian opposition leader Brian Mundubile announced that a charge of treason has been brought","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason","og_site_name":"Africa Press English","article_published_time":"2026-08-31T22:03:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-01T23:00:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":528,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/09\/sm_1788303493.860003.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Zambia Opposition Leader Charged with Treason","datePublished":"2026-08-31T22:03:54+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-01T23:00:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason"},"wordCount":302,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/09\/sm_1788303493.860003.jpg","keywords":["Africa"],"articleSection":["Policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason","name":"Zambia Opposition Leader Charged with Treason - Africa Press English","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/09\/sm_1788303493.860003.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-31T22:03:54+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-01T23:00:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The lawyer for Zambian opposition leader Brian Mundubile announced that a charge of treason has been brought","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/09\/sm_1788303493.860003.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/09\/sm_1788303493.860003.jpg","width":768,"height":528,"caption":"Zambia Opposition Leader Charged with Treason"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/zambia-opposition-leader-charged-with-treason#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Zambia Opposition Leader Charged with Treason"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/","name":"Africa Press English","description":"\u0623\u0648\u0644 \u0645\u0648\u0642\u0639 \u0625\u0641\u0631\u064a\u0642\u064a \u064a\u0643\u062a\u0628 \u0628\u0644\u063a\u0629 \u0628\u0644\u062f\u0627\u0646\u0647","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8583"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8590,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8583\/revisions\/8590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}