- Title: ZAMBIA: Former President Frederick Chiluba denies corruption charges
- Date: 17th May 2007
- Summary: (AD1) LUSAKA, ZAMBIA (MAY 10, 2007) (REUTERS) DRUMMERS FORMER PRESIDENT FREDERICK CHILUBA WALKING WITH HIS WIFE, REGINA. CAMERAS
- Embargoed: 1st June 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Zambia
- Country: Zambia
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAE8YXCC9MR0ZWWYLTOGGNGNUKJ
- Story Text: Zambia's former president, Frederick Chiluba, lashes out at a London high court judge who found him guilty of stealing 46 million US dollars in state funds. Former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba said on Thursday (May 10) that a British judge's order that he personally return the 41 million US dollars alleged to have been stolen while he was in office "bordered on racism".
Chiluba told a news conference he did not steal any of the total 46 million US dollars that the judge, Peter Smith, determined had been stolen from the National Treasury by him and his associates during his decade-long rule in Zambia.
"The matter is grave because the passing of this judgement in a foreign court on foreign soil by a foreign judge on Zambian citizens for crimes allegedly committed, boarders on abdication of our independence," Chiluba said.
He added that he felt that 'this is a case predetermined by Britain in collusion with the Zambian government to crucify me'.
The former president, who says he is the victim of a witchhunt by Zambian President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, said part of the money he was accused of stealing was given to him in the form of "gifts and donations" by friends.
"It's from this account that I sent Levy Patrick Mwanawasa to hospital, why am I not being charged for that. It's from this account that I sent Bamayo Ba Betty Kaunda (former President Kenneth Kaunda's wife), when she suffered a paralysis, to London. Why am I not being charged with this?" Chiluba continued.
Smith ruled in a case Zambia brought in a British court, a move Zambian officials said was aimed at potentially recovering properties Chiluba and his associates purchased using stolen public funds in Britain, Belgium and other European nations. Chiluba denies this.
The ruling backed charges by Mwanawasa's government that Chiluba and his associates stole the money during his years in power.
Chiluba said part of the money was used on security operations by Zambian intelligence.
Political analysts called Smith's a milestone in Africa's efforts to get back money lost to official corruption, seen as a major drag on the continent's development. But it was unclear how much, if any, money Zambia stood to recover.
Zambia, in a separate local trial, has hit Chiluba with criminal charges of stealing $488,000 while in office. That trial stalled in May 2006 due to Chiluba's ill health. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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