A Zambian newspaper editor who on 10 June, acting on behalf of her newspaper, sent two photographs of a woman giving birth in public to Zambia’s vice-president and health minister, as well as other government and civil society officials, faces up to five years in prison on an ‘obscenity’ charge following her arrest on Monday.

The photographs, which were attached to a letter, were designed to draw attention to the consequences of an ongoing health strike, The Post news editor Chansa Kabwela said. Her paper did not publish the photos – which it says were taken by a relative of the mother and delivered to its newsroom.

Kabwela was arrested for circulating obscene material contrary to Section 177(b) of the Penal Code, an offence punishable by imprisonment of up to five years. Section 177 does not provide a definition of obscenity, and states only that it is illegal to possess or distribute an “object tending to corrupt morals.”

The woman in the controversial photographs is pictured in a breech birth outside a hospital and without proper medical care.  The child later died.

On Thursday, one of Kabwela’s lawyers, Sam Mujuda, told IPI that her arrest was “purely political,” and was the result of public comments made by Zambian President Rupiah Banda. “His aim is to cause fear, to intimidate The Post,” said Mujuda, who is also deputy managing editor of the daily newspaper.

Kabwela pled not guilty on Tuesday, and will return to court on 5 and 6 August to fight the charge. A further hearing has been set for 24 September.

The Post has long been critical of the ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) of President Rupiah Banda.

The International Press Institute (IPI) is concerned that the Zambian government is using trumped-up criminal charges as a tool for intimidating and harassing critical journalists.

“I find it worrying that a nation’s health minister could allegedly have his morals corrupted by a photograph of a woman giving birth,” said IPI Director David Dadge.

Rather than face prosecution and imprisonment, Kabwela should be warmly applauded for bringing this issue to the attention of the health ministry.

The fact that Kabwela is having to fight the charge is yet further evidence that The Post is being targeted for its critical reporting of President Banda and the government.

This case will have a chilling effect on the media, who will be reluctant in the future to report on such issues, to the detriment of the Zambian people. It would be better for the Zambian government to stop hiding its embarrassment behind a badly defined law, and actually work on solving the issue that has been exposed by the photograph.”

Since the beginning of the year, there have been disturbing reports of journalists from The Post being singled out for harassment at government events. The newspaper’s reporters have faced threats and beatings and have at times been banned from attending important public events.

At a press conference in June, President Banda said that whoever was responsible for taking the photos was “morbid and peculiar,” and that he hoped “that there are laws in this country to stop the young men from taking pornographic [sic].” Kabwela had already been cautioned by police, over the photos, on 2 July.

The Post Deputy Editor Sam Mujuda told IPI his newspaper would not be cowed into silence. “The Post is the free voice of this country, and the president is trying to attack this voice,” he stated. “We will continue reporting honestly to our society.”