According to information provided to the International Press Institute (IPI), on 9 November, Fred M’membe, the editor and chief executive officer (CEO) of the privately owned daily newspaper, the Post, was arrested and detained in a police station in Zambia’s capital Lusaka.

The arrest came after the editor voluntarily surrendered to the authorities at the Kabwata police station. Accompanying M’membe were his lawyer Sam Mujuda, and Post managing editor Amos Malupenga. The editor was then warned and cautioned under the laws of Zambia, questioned for over an hour, charged with the defamation of President Levy Mwanawasa, and then detained in a police cell.

M’membe’s decision to attend the police station ended a 48 hour siege at the Post by the country’s security forces. The editor was later released from detention and told to appear before a magistrate’s court on 10 November.

According to the information contained in the statement warning and cautioning M’membe, “It was alleged that between November 6 and 7, 2005 in Lusaka, with intent to bring the President into hatred, ridicule and contempt, [you] did publish defamatory matter against President Mwanawasa.”

The charge apparently relates to an editorial in the Post during that period criticising President Mwanawasa for his “foolishness, stupidity and lack of humility.” The editorial was written in response to a speech given by the president attacking former President Kaunda for implying that the new constitution would have a smoother passage if members of civil society were consulted.

An award winning journalist, M’membe has had ongoing problems with the Zambian authorities. On 29 June, the editor was told to report to police headquarters for calling on President Mwanawasa to resign, and, on 12 July 2002, he was acquitted, along with three other defendants, of criminal defamation when he alleged that former President Chiluba was a thief.

Commenting on the decision to arrest and detain M’membe, IPI Director Johann P. Fritz said, “This is the second time in six months that M’membe has been forced to attend a police station and face charges of defaming the president.”

“The use of criminal defamation to silence the work of journalists and to foster self-censorship is little more than a tool of repression in the hands of government.

“If an open society is to be encouraged in the country, the Zambian government must accept the principle that politicians can expect greater criticism than the average person and they should not be tempted to the use the criminal law as protection,” said Fritz.

“I would urge the Zambian President to do everything possible to drop the charges against M’membe and to instigate a review of all the country’s laws that infringe press freedom and remove them from the statute books. Journalists must be free to practice their profession without fear of harassment and intimidation.”