The Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) is considering formulating a new charge against Sunday Standard editor Outsa Mokone and possibly arresting him again.
The Sunday Standard has intercepted a letter from state prosecutor in the case Nchunga Nchunga assuring his superiors that Mokone can still be arrested and prosecuted.
Nchunga has come under fire from government for conceding during Mokone’s bail hearing that the Sunday Standard editor will not be arrested again until the court has made a decision on the constitutionality of the contemplated sedition charge.
In a letter to his superiors, Nchunga explained that, “since the court is still going to hear arguments and make a decision on the constitutionality of sections 50 and 51, it therefore makes sense that criminal proceedings and arrest of the applicant on charges of seditious intent be stayed pending the deliberation of the court. This of course does not mean the applicant is immune from arrest and or prosecution.”
Indications are that Nchunga has come under fire from his superiors for conceding ground to the Sunday Standard editor during the bail hearing earlier this month.
In his letter, Nchunga stated that, “the constitutionality of sections 50 and 51 which deal with sedition and or seditious intent has not yet been deliberated on by the court, the court has not made any decision on the constitutionality or otherwise of those two sections.┬á It therefore does follow that the Respondents did not concede that the two sections are un- constitutional; the concession was that arguments on the issue will be done at a later date to be decided by the court.
Nchunga further stated that, “the issue of the lawfulness of the warrant of arrest was not decided by the court; the concession was that at a later date arguments will be made on the issue, the respondent did not concede that the warrant of arrest was unlawful.”
