{"id":37806,"date":"2023-01-07T21:59:29","date_gmt":"2023-01-07T21:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hh-announces-the-abolition-of-the-death-penalty-and-defamation-of-the-president-crime"},"modified":"2023-01-08T10:11:34","modified_gmt":"2023-01-08T10:11:34","slug":"hh-announces-the-abolition-of-the-death-penalty-and-defamation-of-the-president-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hh-announces-the-abolition-of-the-death-penalty-and-defamation-of-the-president-crime","title":{"rendered":"HH Announces the abolition of the death penalty and defamation of the president crime"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>President Hakainde Hichilema announced on his Facebook page that he has officially abolished the death penalty and the offense of criminal defamation of the president.<\/p>\n

The Penal Code (Amendment) Bill number 25 of 2022, which was assented to by the president, repeals all provisions in the Penal Code Act that provided for the mandatory death sentence in the absence of extenuating circumstances. The provisions of Section 69, which pertain to criminal defamation of the president, have also been repealed.<\/p>\n

President Hakainde Hichilema emphasized that these changes align with the campaign promises to amend laws that inhibit the growth of democracy, good governance, and human rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cFellow Zambians, during our campaigns for the presidency, we promised to amend all laws that inhibit the growth of democracy and good governance, impede human rights and basic freedoms. Today we have delivered,\u201d the president said in a statement.<\/p>\n

According to the statement the abolition of the death penalty and criminal defamation of the president marks a significant step forward for human rights in the Republic of Zambia. The decision to repeal these provisions demonstrates a commitment to justice and the protection of basic freedoms for all citizens.<\/p>\n

Isaac Mwanza However, the repeal of law on defamation of the President from the Penal Code by Parliament is a job half done for President Hichilema\u2019s administration for which he must be commended but the President must be encouraged to do more, says Governance Activist Isaac Mwanza.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe repeal of Section 69 of the Penal Code will not significantly change Zambia\u2019s democratic landscape unless President Hichilema and his administration proceeds to further repeal the entire Chapter 18, inclusive of Chapter 8, of the Penal Code which maintains criminal defamation on the statutes,\u201d said Mr Mwanza.<\/p>\n

Mr Mwanza observed that the repealed Section 69 was solely used for convenience by the Zambia Police in charging persons that issue defamatory remarks against the President because the Police will still be arresting any person or opponents or issue similar remarks charging anybody with criminal defamation of the President based on provisions of Chapter 18 of the Penal Code.<\/p>\n

Mr Mwanza has since advised that it is too early for anyone to celebrate the repeal of Section 69 of the Penal Code as a victory for democracy. \u201cAs you may see from Chapter 18 of the Penal Code, the law is replete with many provisions for charging persons with defamation of the President even in the absence of the repealed Section 69 of the Penal Code,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. President Hakainde Hichilema announced on his Facebook page that he has officially abolished the death penalty and the offense of criminal defamation of the president. The Penal Code (Amendment) Bill number 25 of 2022, which was assented to by the president, repeals all provisions in the Penal Code Act that provided for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":37805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12,248],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-37806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","category-to-homepage","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nHH Announces the abolition of the death penalty and defamation of the president crime - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Hakainde Hichilema announced on his Facebook page that he has officially abolished the death penalty and the o ...\" \/>\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\/zambia\/all-news\/hh-announces-the-abolition-of-the-death-penalty-and-defamation-of-the-president-crime\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"HH Announces the abolition of the death penalty and defamation of the president crime\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Hakainde Hichilema announced on his Facebook page that he has officially abolished the death penalty and the o ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hh-announces-the-abolition-of-the-death-penalty-and-defamation-of-the-president-crime\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-07T21:59:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-08T10:11:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1673116302.47.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\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\/zambia\/all-news\/hh-announces-the-abolition-of-the-death-penalty-and-defamation-of-the-president-crime#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hh-announces-the-abolition-of-the-death-penalty-and-defamation-of-the-president-crime\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"HH Announces the abolition of the death penalty and defamation of the president crime\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-07T21:59:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-08T10:11:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hh-announces-the-abolition-of-the-death-penalty-and-defamation-of-the-president-crime\"},\"wordCount\":434,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hh-announces-the-abolition-of-the-death-penalty-and-defamation-of-the-president-crime#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1673116302.47.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hh-announces-the-abolition-of-the-death-penalty-and-defamation-of-the-president-crime#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hh-announces-the-abolition-of-the-death-penalty-and-defamation-of-the-president-crime\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hh-announces-the-abolition-of-the-death-penalty-and-defamation-of-the-president-crime\",\"name\":\"HH Announces the abolition of the death penalty and defamation of the president crime - 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