Frederick Chiluba, the former president of Zambia, walked free from court on Monday after a criminal trial that many hoped would be a watershed for African justice.
Chiluba was cleared of embezzling US$500,000 during his 10-year presidency after a judge ruled that the funds could not be traced to government money.
Anti-corruption campaigners expressed surprise at the verdict and said they would consider an appeal. They had billed the prosecution as the first of an African leader for corruption in his own country.
PHOTO: AFP
The Lusaka court delivered its verdict following a six-year trial prolonged by Chiluba’s health problems. Observers in the courtroom broke into applause before the magistrate, Jones Chinyama, finished reading the 3,400-word verdict.
“After studying the evidence presented to this court, I’m left with no doubt that the prosecution failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Chinyama said. “I find that the accused is not guilty on all counts.”
Chiluba, 63, swiftly denounced the trial as the work of “imperialists.”
Two years ago he lost a civil court case in London that found he plundered around US$50 million from state coffers to help fund extravagant spending on designer clothes and shoes. But whereas that case was judged on the balance of probabilities, the criminal trial demanded proof beyond reasonable doubt.
“What kind of a government is this that could put its president at the hands of a foreign land and imperialists?” Chiluba said at his home on Monday night. “For seven years I’ve been subjected to harassment and shame and embarrassment.”
He attacked the conviction this year of his wife, Regina, who was sentenced to three-and-a-half years for receiving stolen property and is appealing.
“Merely by associating with me, she has been convicted, but she still remains my wife,” he said.
Chiluba could have faced up to 15 years in jail if convicted. His fellow defendants, two business executives, were found guilty of theft and possession of state funds and each imprisoned for three years with hard labor.
Maxwell Nkole, the leader of the anti-corruption task force pursuing the case, declined to condemn the ruling.
“We will look at the judgment and see if there are elements on which there is a basis to appeal ... It remains a landmark case both in the eyes of the Zambian people and the international community because it’s the first time a head of state has been brought to court and held to account,” Nkole said.
Rueben Lifuka, chapter president of the watchdog Transparency International Zambia, said: “Transparency International Zambia is deeply disappointed with the outcomes of the case against former president Frederick Chiluba. This is a severe blow to several people and organizations in Zambia and across the world who closely followed this case and were convinced that enough evidence had been adduced against him.”
Chiluba’s immunity from prosecution was lifted in 2003 by his successor, Levy Mwanawasa, who died after a stroke last year. Several senior officials and ministers who served in the Chiluba administration have been jailed.
The Zambian attorney general brought the 2007 civil case to court in Britain because much of the stolen money was held in bank accounts in London and used to buy property in Europe and Britain.
High Court Judge Peter Smith found that Chiluba’s salary amounted to US$85,700 over the 10 years of his presidency but that he had spent more than US$980,000 during the same period in just one jewelry and clothing boutique in Geneva.
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