Prime Time
The Zambian broadcasting authority’s decision to suspend a pro-opposition TV channel just days after the ruling party accused it of bias and unprofessionalism has earned the country a rebuke from Amnesty International.
After Prime TV openly condemned the government of President Edgar Lungu, the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) “resolved to suspend (the) license with immediate effect for 30 days,” said IBA board secretary Josephine Mapoma, according to South Africa-based Eyewitness News.
Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s regional director for southern Africa, called the move an “unlawful” ploy to “muzzle independent voices in Zambia and to undermine the right to freedom of expression,” according to the rights watchdog’s web site.
The controversy comes amid mounting accusations that Lungu’s government has grown increasingly authoritarian. On Feb. 20, 10 opposition figures threatened to report Lungu to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for allegedly fomenting political violence against his rivals. Meanwhile, the authorities also suspended a local FM radio station for two months on Monday. It had already ordered the closure of The Post newspaper in 2016.
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