GIVE HIM BAIL OR PARDON GBM BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE
Former defence minister Mr Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba (GBM), who is currently imprisoned at Mwembeshi Maximum Prison, has been seeking release from custody and the grant of bail pending appeal to try to attend specialist medical treatment outside the country, but the state and the courts have denied him bail pending appeal.
GBM is seriously ailing and has been advised by the medical staff attending to him to get urgent specialist medical treatment abroad, a recommendation those in authority have deliberately disregarded.
This is not right. This is inhumane. Justice without compassion is not justice; it is barbarism. This is not how to lead a nation. We appeal to Mr Hakainde Hichilema to show kindness, compassion, and care, even to those he most detests and may not agree with politically, like GBM.
GBM has patiently tried his best to seek bail pending appeal but to no avail. The only option that remains for him is a presidential pardon, if he has to harbour any hope of survival. He can no longer depend on the discretion of the courts and of those who administer our criminal justice system.
We, therefore, request that Mr Hichilema pardon GBM so that he immediately flies out to be attended to by his medical specialists. This is not something impossible. We have had people in this country who killed others receiving presidential pardons before. GBM has not killed anyone.
Therefore, pardoning him on account of poor health wouldn’t be too much to ask for. It’s just a question of Mr Hichilema extending this prerogative to the man, who is currently at his lowest point in life.
Let Mr. Hichilema pardon GBM so that he can go and seek specialist medical treatment abroad before it’s too late.
Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party
