A Zambian court has sentenced Leonard Phiri and Mozambican Jasten Mabulesse Candunde to two years in prison for attempting to use witchcraft to kill President Hakainde Hichilema.
The two men were arrested in December after being found with charms, including a live chameleon, which prosecutors said were intended for a deadly ritual.
Delivering judgment, Magistrate Fine Mayambu described the convicts as a danger to society.
“It is my considered view that the convicts were not only the enemy of the head of state but were also enemies of all Zambians,” he said.
The court heard that a fugitive former MP allegedly hired the men. Despite claiming to be traditional healers, they were convicted on two counts under the Witchcraft Act.
Magistrate Mayambu said the accused admitted owning the charms and even demonstrated how they intended to use them.
“The two accepted ownership of the charms. Phiri further demonstrated that the chameleon’s tail, once pricked and used in the ritual, would cause death to occur within five days,” the magistrate told the court.
Defence lawyer, Agrippa Malando appealed for a lighter sentence, arguing that his clients were first-time offenders. The court, however, rejected the plea.
In addition to the two-year jail term, both men received concurrent six-month sentences for possession of charms.
President Hichilema, who has publicly stated that he does not believe in witchcraft, has not commented on the case.
The Witchcraft Act, originally passed in 1914, is rarely invoked but is intended to protect citizens from fear and practices deemed harmful to public order.
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