Former Lumezi Member of Parliament MUNIR ZULU has had his appeal dismissed by the Lusaka High Court, which has upheld his one-year sentence imposed by the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court.
This is in a matter where Mr. ZULU was convicted in April 2025 and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment with hard labour after being found guilty of libel.
In his appeal, Mr. ZULU argued, among other grounds, that the Magistrates’ Court had no jurisdiction to pronounce itself on a matter he claimed was constitutional in nature.
He further contended that the court failed to consider mitigating factors when arriving at the sentence.
However, High Court Judge BONAVENTURE MBEWE ruled that all nine grounds of appeal advanced by Mr. ZULU lacked merit in their entirety.
Judge MBEWE said he was satisfied that the lower court properly arrived at its judgment and had not erred in law or fact.
He added that the court found the trial magistrate to have been fair in delivering the sentence.
Judge MBEWE also ruled that Mr. ZULU could not invoke parliamentary privilege; as such privilege only applies to statements made on the floor of the National Assembly.
He concluded that there was no reasonable justification to interfere with the sentence imposed by the lower court.
By Alice Lubasi
Source: ZNBC