PAZA hails acquittal of Hamasaka as victory for justice

The Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) has described as a victory for justice the acquittal of journalist Clayton Hamasaka by the Lusaka Magistrate court.

Mr. Hamasaka who is also a lecturer at the Evelyn Hone College has been facing charges of possession of pornographic material.

In a statement to Qfm News PAZA President Andrew Sakala has observed that the ruling by the Magistrate Court also vindicates Mr. Hamasaka’s long held view that the charges were trumped up and only meant to persecute him.

Mr. Sakala says the acquittal of Mr. Hamasaka is further a serious indictment on the conduct of the law enforcement officers who arrested him and took him to court on trumped up charges.

He states that the Court’s ruling that the evidence on which Mr. Hamasaka was dragged to court for, was planted on his computer casts doubt on the competence, sincerity, credibility and integrity of Zambia’s law enforcement officers.

Mr. Sakala notes that it in effect seriously dents the image of the law enforcement officers to an extent that the trust and respect that officers deserve has been eroded as the public’s trust and respect for law enforcement officers has now been replaced by distrust, disrespect and fear.

He says in view of the Court ruling PAZA is therefore calling on the authorities to immediately suspend the officers who were involved in this case and institute investigations into their conduct.

The PAZA president has suggested that the investigation should include all officers who took part in the search, interrogation and subsequent indictment of Mr. Hamasaka to ensure that all culprits are held accountable and brought to book.

He has advised that it is important that disciplinary action, which should not exclude criminal prosecution, be taken against the culprits as a way of restoring public confidence in out security apparatus.

Mr. Sakala has further called on the Director of Public Prosecutions to seriously scrutinize cases before taking them to court to avoid bringing the national prosecutions authority into disrepute by prosecuting people on trumped up charges.

He has additionally reminded the Zambia police, Drug Enforcement Commission and Anti-Corruption Commission to always act professionally and within the confines of the law.