‘Govt acted correctly’
…Biti was running away from justice
ZAMBIA did not breach any International law when it handed over Zimbabwean opposition leader, Tendai Biti, to that country’s authorities because there is no proof that he was political-ly persecuted but he just fled Zimbabwe in a bid to run away from justice, Lusaka based lawyer Hobday Kabwe has said. Mr Kabwe told the Daily Nation in an interview yesterday that Mr Biti’s grounds for seeking an asylum were not worth the relief he sought. Mr Kabwe explained there were a number of things which needed to be looked at if one was to be granted asylum and that Zambia did everything well above board when it handed over Mr Biti to Zimbabwean authorities. He said politicians should not appear to be above the law by deliberately violating the law in their respective country with a view of seeking asylum in the foreign land. Mr Kabwe said there was no proof that Mr Biti was politically persecuted because he fled his country when he was summoned by the police for allegedly criminal offences. “The release of Tendai Biti and handing him over to Zimbabwean authorities had nothing in terms of violating international law. The Zambian Government did not violate any internation-al law and treaty obligations. In order to be granted an asylum, it must be proved that there is clear persecution on the part of the one seeking an asylum. “But what we saw from Tendai Biti is that he was summoned by the police in Zimbabwe for alleged criminal offences. He transcended the legal boundaries and instead of availing himself to the police, he fled to Zambia and that did not necessary warrant him an asylum,” Mr Kabwe said. Mr Kabwe added, “Only if you are persecuted on grounds of religion or if one is being persecut-ed politically as a result of belonging to the minority, then Government can consider to grant such a person asylum.” He said Mr Biti was facing alleged criminal charges in Zimbabwe adding that he had to attend to them in a legitimate court of law. Mr Kabwe pointed out that the Zimbabwean situation does not necessarily require anyone to seek an asylum but has to go through the process of the law to clear themselves and not ap-pear to be above the law. Last week, the Zambian Government handed over Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) alliance leader, Tendai Biti to Zimbabwean security forces after he had come to Zambia to seek asylum, which was thwarted on grounds that his reasons were not meritorious. Mr Biti is charged with inciting public violence and declaring unofficial election results.