ESPIONAGE charged Sedrick Kasanda has sued the State seeking an order that the Drug Enforcement Commission(DEC) should immediately return properties it seized from him.
Mr Kasanda, a miner, also seeks a declaration that the DEC have no authority to issue seizure warrants in the manner they did and against the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code Chapter 88 of the Laws of Zambia and the Prohibition and Prevention of Money Laundering Act No. 14 of 2001 of the laws of Zambia.
The businessman of plot 19, main Street, Ibex Hill, also seeks a declaration that the search and seizure of his properties by DEC officers was ultra-vires, void, and illegal.
Mr Kasanda seeks an order that the seizure of his properties without ever being neither charged nor tried for any offence related to the Prohibition and Prevention of Money Laundering Act No. 14 of 2001 or the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act No. 35 of 2021 both pre and post the seizures, violates his rights to a fair trial and jeopardizes his right to be presumed innocent.
He also seeks damages for anguish, impacting the well-being of the occupants of the seized house, particularly minors, and loss of use of the seized properties.
The petitioner has cited Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha as respondent in the matter to be heard before the Economic and Financial Crimes Court.
He submits that on August 17, 2023, a team of officers from Zambia Police, DEC and the Office of the President unlawfully intruded at his house which they raided without the issuance of a duly executed warrant before entry.
The petitioner submits that while on the premises, the armed investigative team proceeded to fill in a document purportedly resembling a search warrant and subsequently initiated a search of his property.
He submits that the search, lasted unto sunset but the investigators never seized or take any movable property from his residence.
But upon concluding the search, the petitioner was promptly commanded to accompany a team of DEC officers for questioning.
Mr Kasanda submits that following the initial questioning, he was again taken back to his residence for another search, during which the investigations team seized his house, plot No. 19 Main Street, Ibex Hill, Lusaka, and all those properties situated thereon were seized forthwith under the Notice of seizure No.D 15424.
He submits that the seizure of the property was purportedly executed under the Authority of section 15 of the Prohibition and Prevention of Money Laundering Act No. 14 of 2001, citing reasonable grounds to believe that the properties are liable to seizure.
But the petitioner vehemently asserts that the property in question was legitimately acquired, and the seizure lacks basis.
He submits that he will further assert that the manner in which the asset was seized deprives him of his property right, a fundamental right protected under the Constitution and firmly asserts that seizing the property solely based on suspicion, without concrete evidence, is severally unjust and lacks a legal foundation.
Mr Kasanda now wants the court intervention for redress, citing the constitutional breaches among them, related to his right to fair trial,
(Mwebantu)