The Editor Zambia
There is a growing deafening chorus from the European Union, United Nations, church mother bodies, and other international actors demanding the release of people facing treason charges in Zambia.
While the concerns about human rights, political freedoms, and national reconciliation are understandable, those calling for the immediate release of the suspects must first consider the extraordinary gravity of the offence with which they have been charged. 
Treason is not an ordinary political offence but goes to the heart of the security and constitutional order of a sovereign state.
This is even worse when there is evidence of tribally and regionally-inclined political individuals involved in seditious activities of an organised attempt to undermine the constitutional order.
Normally, the appropriate response cannot simply be to demand their release before the allegations have been tested by a competent domestic court.
The issue confronting Zambia is, therefore, bigger than personalities, political parties, or the outcome of an election and thus calls for a sober reflection than demand to release the culprits.
This is precisely where international actors must exercise restraint, bearing in mind that Zambia is a sovereign republic with functioning courts, a Constitution, and established procedures for dealing with serious criminal allegations.
The United Nations, European Union, African Union, SADC, and church organisations can encourage due process, reconciliation, and respect for human rights.
They should not, however, substitute themselves for Zambian domestic courts or dictate the outcome of an active criminal case.
The principle should be simple: home-grown problems require home-grown solutions.
Zambia has a long history of resolving political disputes through it’s institutions including treason cases, which have all been done through domestic courts.
There is no reason why the current matter should be treated differently, and here we can cite the coup attempts against the first and second republican presidents Kenneth Kaunda and Frederick Chiluba.
All the bodies now calling for the release of treason suspects were around when these cases came up and allowed the domestic courts to handle them.
The international community should also remember the painful lessons of Rwandan genocide of 1994 that exposed the catastrophic consequences of inadequate international response to credible warnings of mass violence.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Rwanda was warned about preparations for violence, yet the international response proved disastrously inadequate.
That history should encourage vigilance—not selective intervention.
Here, we are talking of a case where Zambian security agencies genuinely uncovered evidence pointing towards the existence of an armed and tribally and regionally inclined militia.
This deserves serious investigation because nobody should want Zambia to wait until political mobilisation, ethnic tensions, and access to weapons evolve into violence before action is taken.
The church, too, has an important role to mediate, preach, and encourage political leaders to lower the temperature.
But reconciliation cannot mean abandoning justice because peace built on the suppression of serious security concerns is fragile.
The government has, therefore, done the responsible thing by placing the matter within the criminal justice system where the suspects should be taken before court, allowed to defend themselves, and given a fair hearing.
Zambia welcomes international friendship, cooperation, and solidarity, but friendship does not mean surrendering sovereignty.
The EU, UN, church bodies, and other concerned actors should, therefore, change their emphasis—from “release them” to “let justice take its course.”
That is not only the fairest position for the accused but also the safest position for Zambia.
The country cannot afford to trivialise allegations of armed political mobilisation simply because they are politically uncomfortable.
Let the courts decide and let Zambia resolve its own problems.
