SUPREME COURT ON POINT-GREEN PARTY

The Green Party says the Supreme Court did not abuse its jurisdiction by sentencing Anti-Corruption Activist Gregory Chifire to six years in jail for contempt of court.
Green Party President Peter Sinkamba says the Supreme Court possesses inherent power to imprison a person for a period of six years and even more, including death sentence.
Mr. Sinkamba however says in line with public policy, the six-year sentence is contentious as Zambia has a congested prisoners’ population amounting to 20 thousand, against six thousand 1-hundred bed spaces.
He says due to congestion of prisons, there is need to review the sentencing system by applying the community-based sentences other than imprisonment.
Meanwhile Mr. Sinkamba has advised those aggrieved with the courts’ judgment to channel their grievances to the Judicial Complaints Authority unlike issuing disparaging remarks against the courts and the judicial system.
This is contained in a statement released to ZNBC News in Lusaka.
Anti-Corruption Activist Gregory Chifire was last week jailed for six years by the Supreme Court for issuing contemptuous remarks against Chief Justice Irene Mambilima and the Judiciary.