ACA’s Laura Miti And Bornwell Mwewa Acquitted

The director of the Alliance for Community Action (ACA), Laura Miti, and the organisation’s programs manager Bornwell Mwewa have been acquitted on charges of disorderly conduct and assault by Livingstone Magistrate’s Court.

The pair were accused of assaulting a police officer while supporting musician and fellow activist Pilato at a youth gathering in December of last year. 

At the time of their arrest, Amnesty International released a statement, saying that “The charges against Laura and Bornwell fit into a much wider pattern of suppression of peaceful dissent that we have seen in Zambia in recent years”.

The organisation called for all charges against Miti and Mwewa to be dropped, adding that the criminal justice system should not be used to silence dissent or ‘settle scores’ against political opponents. 

A tearful Ms Miti left the courthouse to scenes of jubilation outside. She has vowed to continue fighting for rights and democracy in Zambia.

“We have been found not guilty of assaulting police or conducting ourselves in a disorderly manner. The magistrate said the prosecution witnesses contradicted themselves so badly that they were hard to believe making it clear that what they claim did not happen.” she later tweeted. 

Pilato, Miti and Mwewa pictured outside the courthouse