The editor-in-chief of the Zambian daily newspaper the Post, Fred M’membe, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday 14 October to contempt of court for publishing an op-ed about ongoing “obscenity” proceedings against fellow Post journalist, Chansa Kabwela.

The first hearings into the contempt case will now go ahead on 29 and 30 October, with M’membe facing up to six months in prison if found guilty.

In August of this year, a Zambian state prosecutor cited M’membe, Post deputy editor Sam Mujuda and an Ivy League law school professor, Muna Ndulo, for contempt following a critical op-ed written by the latter and published in the Post that month.

In the op-ed, Ndulo criticised criminal charges brought against Kabwela for sending photographs of a woman giving birth in the street to the country’s health minister.

Kabwela, who had sent the photos in an attempt to highlight the suffering caused by a health worker strike, faces a possible five-year jail term for distributing material that could “corrupt morals.”

M’membe and Mujuda face charges under section 116 of the Zambian penal code, which criminalises speech or writing that misrepresents an ongoing judicial proceeding or that could prejudice opinion regarding a proceeding.

In an earlier interview with IPI, Mujuda said that the Post does not consider the op-ed contemptuous, as “it does not go into the merits of the case.”

Mujuda, who is currently outside Zambia, has been dropped from the contempt proceedings, but will face charges upon his return.

“We urge the court to reconsider its charges against our colleagues in Zambia. It is particularly absurd that the court would seek to punish a newspaper for printing an opinion piece on its editorial pages. That is in complete opposition to the rule and spirit of freedom of expression,” said Alison Bethel McKenzie, IPI deputy director.