Court allows Zambia's opposition leader to access medical services

A court in Zambia on Tuesday ruled that the country's leading opposition leader who is currently in detention on treason charges be allowed access to medical services.

Hakainde Hichilema appeared in court for mention and explanation of the charges following his arrest last week. The family and his party had complained that he was being denied access to medical access after the brutality he suffered when the police raided his home.

In court, his lawyers raised a number of preliminary issues such as the conduct of the police when they went to arrest him whereby they discharged tear gas in a room in which he was hiding with his family.

The lawyers also submitted that he should be allowed to seek independent medical services, be allowed visitors, be allowed to interact and inform his lawyers in privacy as well as be allowed reading materials.

Magistrate Greenwell Malumani ruled that the opposition leader should be allowed access to personal medical services and medical examination of his own choice.

He further ruled that the opposition leader should be allowed to interact with his lawyers for at least one hour and not 20 minutes as well as visits by his wife, children and other five family members.

The court has also ruled that he should be moved from a police training college on the outskirts of Lusaka, the country's where he has been detained since his arrest to a correctional facility and that his rulings should be adhered to without fail.

The opposition leader and five others have been slapped with three charges.

According to the charges read to them by the court, the opposition leader and others prepared and endeavored to overthrow by unlawful means the government of President Edgar Lungu between October 2016 and April 8, 2017, disobeyed orders to give way to Lungu's motorcade and used offensive language against the police.

The opposition leader said he understood the charge but did not take plea. Endit