Ethiopian illegals jailed, fined

10 MORE male Ethiopian nationals yesterday appeared before the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to two counts of, unlawful entry and unlawful stay in Zambia. On Monday, 20 other Ethiopian nationals on Monday appeared before the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court on two counts of, unlawful entry and unlawful stay in Zambia without documentation or authority from the Immigration Department. The matter came before magistrate Kunda Tantameni for facts and plea. When the matter came up, the 10 male Ethiopian nationals admitted to the two charges and pleaded guilty. When the accused persons appeared, they told the court that it was not their intention to be found in Zambia illegally as they were forced by some people from Kenya and were packed in a container on transit to South Africa. Among the apprehended Ethiopian nationals were businessmen, farmers and students. Facts before court were that on October 14th 2017 around 20 hours, Immigration Officers received information that there were about 70 suspected immigrants housed in a known house in Chazanga area. 69 out of the 70 suspected immigrants were apprehended and taken to the police where they interviewed. Investigations also revealed that the 20 entered Zambia without any documentation and lawful justification to be in the country without any documents. The accused persons who pleaded guilty told the court that they had made a big mistake and would like to be deported to their country to educate their friends not to engage themselves in what they had found themselves into. One of the males said there was poverty in their country that’s how they found themselves captured in Kenya to be transported to South Africa. After mitigation, magistrate Tantameni fined the 20 males K1, 000 per count each and sentenced them to two months imprisonment for each count to run concurrently. “In your own admission of guilt to both counts, and taking note that you are first offenders, you are fined K1, 000 for each count, and 2 months custodial sentence from the date of arrest,” she said.