Police Rubbish Claims That Sean Tembo Was Unlawfully Detained

The Police have dismissed claims by some in the media that Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) president Sean Tembo was unlawfully detained after he was arrested in Lusaka last Thursday. He has since been charged with hate speech and released on police bond.

Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga said the delay in processing and releasing Mr Tembo on bond was entirely the fault of Tembo and his lawyer, who initially did not meet with officers to discuss the formalities of Mr Tembo’s arrest. 

Mr Tembo later complained that he was not feeling well and was taken to Chilenje Level One Hospital. After being discharged, his lawyer again refused to meet with police saying that he was busy. After Tembo and his lawyer finally sat down with officers on Monday morning, he was charged and released on police bond. 

Mr Hamoonga said the police service was committed to upholding the rights of Zambian citizens and had “no intentions of detaining Tembo or any other citizen beyond the legal stipulated period. “

“The seemingly portrayed unlawful detention was caused by either of the two, Tembo or his lawyer, who were not available for the police to complete the formalities as by law established,” Hamoonga added. 

It was initially reported that Tembo was arrested last Thursday for defaming the President, after he tweeted an image saying that “Bally’s monthly menstruation is here again. 

However, it has since emerged that the PeP president received a caution for a Facebook post in November 2021, which claimed that members of the Bemba tribe ‘would become extinct in approximately seven months’ because of the governments’ arrests of corrupt officials.

Mr Hamoonga clarified that such a statement invoked hostility or segregation towards a particular social grouping on the basis of tribal affiliation.