No acquittal for missing cocaine accused - State

7he State has obMected to defence lawyer .eith Mweembj’s application for the acTuittal of his clients charged for trafÀcNing in cocaine, which has since gone missing. In this case, &hief 5esident Magistrate .enneth Mulife has put Sydney Mwansa, ta[i driver 7eddy Matanda, and a 7an]anian bus conductor Shaibu $bilahi /iNuta on their defence for allegedly trafÀcNing in . Nilograms of cocaine, which has since been swapped, and the accused persons were scheduled to open their defence last week before Mr. Mweemba’s application. 5esponding to the application yesterday, 'eputy &hief State $dvocate Gamaliel =imba described it as ve[atious, frivolous and lacNing merit. Mr. =imba told Mr. Mulife that Mr. Mweembj’s other application for re-testing the available e[hibits was eTually ve[atious, frivolous, and lacNing merit. ´7he &riminal 3rocedure &ode &hapter the /aws of =ambia is a comprehensive guide on procedure. :e have found no provision therein supporting this sought for application. ´7he State is at sea as to what provision of the &3& this application is anchored on,µ Mr. =imba said. He said the State had looNed at the e[hibits and accompanying documents, which showed that the drugs were sei]ed from the accused persons. He said the afÀdavit sworn by a public analyst from the )ood and 'rug /aboratory showed that the drugs tested positive for cocaine. He said at the time when the said afÀdavit was produced in court, the defence did not obMect to its production. ´2n what basis should the court acTuit them? Our careful perusal of the record will show the kind of drugs which the State produced,µ he said. Mr. =imba urged the court to dismiss the two applications with the contempt they deserve. 7he case has been adMourned to this 7hursday for the defence’s reply to the State’s obMection