The 390 inmates – including 11 women – at the maximum security prison in Kambue, about 150 kilometers north of the capital Lusaka, will now serve life sentences.
Zambian President Hakaide Hichilema has commuted the sentences of 390 convicts to death, six weeks after the African country abolished the death penalty, Interior Minister Jack Muibu has announced.
The 390 inmates – including 11 women – at the maximum security prison in Kambue, about 150 kilometers north of the capital Lusaka, will now serve life sentences.
“Therefore, we no longer have death row inmates in our prisons,” the Zambian interior minister summed up at a press conference he gave.
Hichilema, who took over the country’s presidency last year, abolished the death penalty on December 23, 2022 and repealed a colonial-era law that prohibited citizens from defaming the head of state.
Formerly a British protectorate (as Northern Rhodesia), Zambia became an independent state in 1964 and today has a population of approximately 18 million. It is the 25th country in sub-Saharan Africa to abolish the death penalty, according to Amnesty International.
RES-EMP
Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
