/ 26 August 1999

40 DAYS IN ZAMBIAN JAIL

A JOHANNESBURG businessman charged with theft in Zambia was released on Wednesday after almost 40 days in a Lusaka jail, following a High Court ruling that he had been wrongfully detained as an illegal immigrant. The Star reports on Thursday that Kieran James Haldenby (32) was arrested in Lusaka on July 4. He and three Zambian men have been charged with the alleged theft of two heavy-duty trucks and 13 luxury Land Cruisers. His sister, Deana, said he claims to have been held in a cell with 90 other prisoners, no bath, shower or beds and with a hole in the floor serving as a toilet. Haldenby is infested with lice and has open sores all over his body. He has also developed malaria and a lung infection, but has been denied medical attention, she said.