Chiluba's wife arrested - again

2007-09-03 18:20

Lusaka - The wife of Zambia's ex-president Frederick Chiluba was rearrested on Monday and charged with receiving property and funds allegedly stolen by her husband only days after walking free from court.

Regina Chiluba was picked up from her residence in the capital Lusaka by armed officers who took her to a nearby police station where she was charged and briefly detained.

Her husband and dozens of her relatives accompanied her to the police station where she was formally arrested and detained in a tiny cell before her lawyers managed to get bail for her.

Police refused to comment on the arrest, saying a statement would be issued by the special taskforce established to investigate corruption during Frederick Chiluba's 10-year rule that ended in 2001 when he retired.

Chiluba's spokesperson Emmanuel Mwamba, who was at the police station, said the former president also joined his wife in the protest against her arrest.

"Chiluba joined in the cell together with his bodyguards," Mwamba told reporters outside the police station in the upmarket suburb of woodlands.

Earlier, Chiluba's wife had refused to co-operate with the police saying her arrest was an abuse of the law because she was discharged on the same offence when the prosecution withdrew the case on August 24.

The former president, who is also facing charges of corruption and abuse of office, is accused to have given Regina state funds and property, which he stole from government.

- AFP