Opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa has made fresh calls for the release of fellow party executive and lawyer Job Sikhala from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison following reports that he is seriously ill.
The call comes after Sikhala told NewsDay's sister publication, The Standard that he was unwell and needed urgent medical attention.
“I am deeply concerned about the fact that Hon Job Sikhala is seriously ill in Chikurubi Maximum Prison. In particular, the fact that he has blood in his stool is a very serious condition which requires urgent and expert medical attention which is denied to him at present,” Chamisa wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
This is not the first time Sikhala, incarcerated in June last year, has fallen sick whilst holed up in prison.
“This would be bad enough if he was a convicted criminal but he is an opposition politician and respected lawyer who has been denied bail and a fair trial since June last year,” said Chamisa, while calling upon regional leaders to facilitate his release and access to healthcare.
“The oppressors have callously disregarded our pleas in the past and so I now call on the international community, particularly leaders within SADC, to express concern and to call for his immediate release to obtain specialized medical attention.
“When icons like (former South African leader) Nelson Mandela were held unjustly, the world spoke out against the brutal apartheid regime’s unjust treatment of him. This situation requires the same to be done urgently. For our part we will continue to do all in our power to secure his release from detention,” Chamisa said.
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