Former Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) legislator Amos Chibaya and his four accomplices who were last week convicted of participating in an unlawful gathering have escaped jail after they were ordered to pay US$500 fine each.
Chibaya was
jointly charged with Cosmas Machingauta, Monica Mukwada, Aletta Viremai and
Lancelot Tungwarara.
The magistrate
said failure to pay the fine would mean that the accused persons would serve
six months in jail.
However, she
wholly suspended six months from the sentence on condition that they don’t
commit a similar offence in the next five years.
In her ruling,
the magistrate said the court had taken into consideration that all the accused
persons are first offenders and philanthropists.
She said each
of the accused persons has assisted the community in various ways.
However, she
ruled that the accused persons premeditated the commission of this offence.
Mrs Rakafa said
imposing a custodial sentence would be too harsh and would cause untold
suffering to the four’s families. Herald
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