THURSDAY, 12.45PM
A ZAMBIAN soldier arrested after the October 28 coup has died mysteriously in detention. Corporal Robert Chiulo died on November 30 after a month in detention and was buried a week later, but his death has only now become public knowledge.
Chiulo’s widow was ordered to hand over his death certificate to the Zambian Army, and has been refused the customary benefits due to the family of a deceased soldier. A post-mortem was carried out, but the documents have been held by the army, which will not release them to Chiulo’s family.
Chiulo was shot in the thigh when arrested, and held in hospital for a week, where his wife was allowed to visit him. But then she was told he had developed malaria, and despite visiting the hospital daily, she was never allowed to see him again.
On November 30 she was told he had died of malaria, and she should bury him at her own expense because the army was not prepared to give benefits to a man involved in the coup.
There have been repeated claims by local and international human rights organisations that political detainees held under emergency regulations since the October coup have been beaten and tortured. The mysterious circumstances of Chiulo’s death will only fuel these suspicions.
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