Zambia: Opposition Figure Sentenced for ‘Defaming President’

Johannesburg — The conviction and sentencing of a leading opposition member to 18 months in prison with hard labor will have a broad chilling effect on the right to freedom of expression in Zambia, Human Rights Watch said today.

Raphael Nakacinda, secretary general of the main opposition party, Patriotic Front, was sentenced on May 17, 2024, for his 2021 remarks “defaming the president,” a criminal offense that the president abolished in 2022. President Hakainde Hichilema had earlier said that…