Release Inmates To Tackle Covid-19, HH Advises

UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has advised the government to remove low-risk prisoners from jails and police holding cells in order to decrease the risk of coronavirus outbreaks in the prisoner and guard populations. 

The opposition leader said that correctional facilities were a breeding ground for communicable diseases even before the current outbreak of Covid-19, and that the present pandemic introduces a huge risk to the lives of inmates and those who interact with them. 

In a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Chief Justice, the Director of Public Prosecution, the Human Rights Commission and the Legal Aid Board, Mr Hichilema calls for a working group of legal experts and prison officers to be formed in order to review the situation. 

Once this group has identified prisoners that are of little risk to the public, such as those facing minor charges or coming up for early release, the inmates may be released on police bail or even unconditionally, as determined on a case by case basis.

Mr Hichilema also called on Judges and magistrates to halt all civil proceedings until further notice, focussing instead on criminal proceedings. 

He added that juvenile, elderly and terminally ill inmates should be given special dispensation for early release or speedy trials given their susceptibility to Covid-19. 

Mr Hichilema ended the letter by stipulating that all inmates should be tested for the coronavirus both prior to and upon release in order to minimise risk to the public upon their re-entry to society. 

HH’s concern for the wellbeing of prisoners is likely informed by his own incarceration, when he was held in custody for 100 days in 2017 on dubious accusations of treason. 

The opposition leader was arrested in April after allegedly refusing to give way to President Lungu’s motorcade. He was never tried and eventually walked free after the government dropped the charges. 

Upon his release in August, Mr Hichilema was greeted by scores of people lining the streets in Lusaka. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan praised the government’s decision to drop the charges against Hichilema.