{"id":74012,"date":"2025-06-25T11:51:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T11:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/zclu-urges-government-to-withdraw-court-case-over-ecls-burial"},"modified":"2025-06-25T11:51:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T11:51:00","slug":"zclu-urges-government-to-withdraw-court-case-over-ecls-burial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/zclu-urges-government-to-withdraw-court-case-over-ecls-burial","title":{"rendered":"ZCLU Urges Government to Withdraw Court Case Over ECL\u2019s Burial"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>The Zambian Civil Liberties Union (ZCLU) has called on the government to withdraw its court action seeking to stop the burial of former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu in South Africa, warning that continued legal battles are deepening tensions with the late president\u2019s family and supporters.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement issued on Tuesday, ZCLU Executive Director Isaac Mwanza said the government\u2019s legal move is not only unhelpful but also risks undermining efforts to foster national unity and healing during a sensitive time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe President\u2019s intentions to repatriate the former Head of State\u2019s remains for burial in Zambia were commendable,\u201d Mwanza acknowledged. \u201cHowever, taking legal action to dictate burial arrangements is inadvisable if healing and reconciliation are truly desired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mwanza argued that while the state may cite public interest in pursuing the matter, such a claim is highly debatable in what has become a deeply polarized situation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe President Hichilema has already done enough to try and bring the body back to Zambia. It is now time to let go and allow the family to proceed with their wishes,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>The ZCLU has since urged President Hakainde Hichilema to reconsider the government\u2019s position and advise the Attorney General to withdraw the court case currently before a South African court.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead of prolonging a legal standoff, the President should focus on uniting the nation and showing goodwill to the Lungu family after the burial,\u201d Mwanza said.<\/p>\n<p>He commended the swift response of the South African courts, adding that the country\u2019s judicial system has a well-established precedent of prioritizing the wishes of the deceased\u2019s family in burial disputes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven South Africa\u2019s independent judiciary and established legal precedence, it is unlikely the court will side with the Zambian government\u2019s position,\u201d Mwanza observed.<\/p>\n<p>He concluded by urging the President to shift attention from legal wrangles to the broader goal of promoting peace and unity in the aftermath of the former president\u2019s passing.<\/p>\n<p>The late Edgar Chagwa Lungu served as Zambia\u2019s sixth Republican President from 2015 to 2021. His unexpected passing has ignited debate over his final resting place, with his family insisting on a private burial in South Africa, where he had been receiving medical care.<\/p>\n<p>June 25, 2025<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9\ufe0f KUMWESU<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\">Zambia<\/a> Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Zambia. The Zambian Civil Liberties Union (ZCLU) has called on the government to withdraw its court action seeking to stop the burial of former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu in South Africa, warning that continued legal battles are deepening tensions with the late president\u2019s family and supporters. In a statement issued on Tuesday, ZCLU [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":74011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-74012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"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>ZCLU Urges Government to Withdraw Court Case Over ECL\u2019s Burial - Zambia<\/title>\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\/zclu-urges-government-to-withdraw-court-case-over-ecls-burial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ZCLU Urges Government to Withdraw Court Case Over ECL\u2019s Burial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press &#8211; Zambia. The Zambian Civil Liberties Union (ZCLU) has called on the government to withdraw its court action seeking to stop the burial of former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu in South Africa, warning that continued legal battles are deepening tensions with the late president\u2019s family and supporters. In a statement issued on Tuesday, ZCLU [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/zclu-urges-government-to-withdraw-court-case-over-ecls-burial\" \/>\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=\"2025-06-25T11:51:00+00:00\" \/>\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\/zclu-urges-government-to-withdraw-court-case-over-ecls-burial#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/zclu-urges-government-to-withdraw-court-case-over-ecls-burial\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"ZCLU Urges Government to Withdraw Court Case Over ECL\u2019s Burial\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-25T11:51:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/zclu-urges-government-to-withdraw-court-case-over-ecls-burial\"},\"wordCount\":395,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/zclu-urges-government-to-withdraw-court-case-over-ecls-burial#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2025\/06\/MohamadReza1750839684.00148.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/zclu-urges-government-to-withdraw-court-case-over-ecls-burial#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/zclu-urges-government-to-withdraw-court-case-over-ecls-burial\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/zclu-urges-government-to-withdraw-court-case-over-ecls-burial\",\"name\":\"ZCLU Urges Government to Withdraw Court Case Over ECL\u2019s Burial - 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