Zambia opposition leader denies criminal trespass charges

An opposition leader in Zambia on Monday pleaded not guilty to a charge of criminal trespass.

Nevers Mumba, who leads a faction of the opposition Movement for Multiparty Democracy, was arrested on Saturday afternoon for unlawfully entering the newsroom of the state broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation last Thursday and spent the weekend in police custody.

According to the police, the opposition leader, who was the country's vice-president in late President Levy Mwanawasa's government, is alleged to have stormed the public broadcaster's newsroom and threatened staff on Thursday evening over a story the broadcaster run.

Mumba pleaded not guilty to the charge when he appeared in a magistrate court in Lusaka, the country's capital on Monday.

The court has since granted him bail after state prosecutors objected to the application by lawyers that he should be granted bail, saying he was a threat to national security following his comments last week that the inauguration of President Edgar Lungu will not take place. Endit