"Without the help I received, I would be in prison now"
The Programme for Legal Empowerment and Enhanced Justice Delivery (PLEED) in Zambia, implemented by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) with technical assistance from the Danish Institute for Human Rights. PLEED itself has been funded by the European Union and the Federal Republic of Germany.
In 2020, 66 year-old Bernard Kasaka, who lives in Copperbelt Province in Zambia, was arrested and charged with assault. Like many other Zambians he could not afford to hire a private lawyer and was afraid that he would end up waiting in one of Zambia’s many congested prisons for years before being put on trial. Some of those Zambians who are charged with crimes wait in prisons for long periods of time, as the legal system in Zambia is severely understaffed.
In order to reduce case accumulation in the penal system and to ensure the legal rights of all Zambians, in 2020 the Institute contributed to the establishment of another four new legal aid desks. Here, people are offered free legal assistance and information about their legal rights. Since 2013, nineteen legal aid desks have been set up at courts, at police stations and in prisons.
Avoiding imprisonment
So far more than 60,000 Zambians have received help and assistance from paralegals and legal aid assistants at the legal aid desks in Zambia. As a result, in 2020 only 27 per cent of the people who were assisted and represented in court through one of the legal aid desks, were sentenced to prison. The remaining 73 per cent of the criminal cases were suspended, withdrawn and diverted away from the criminal justice system, or the people charged received a fine, community service or other non-custodial sentence.
Without the help I received, I would be in prison now. I have nine grandchildren that I am taking care of. They would have suffered and become destitute if I had gone to prison
Bernard Kasaka belongs to the 73 per cent who avoided imprisonment.
At the police station paralegals advised him on his legal rights and on his right to apply for a police bond. Thanks to their help the bond was granted, and Bernard Kasaka was released from custody until his trial began. He was represented in court by the legal aid assistants and was eventually found guilty. But due to his age and circumstances, his sentence was suspended.