By DELPHINE ZULU –
THE Lusaka Magistrate’s Court has acquitted Clayson Hamasaka, a journalist and media trainer on a charge of being in possession of obscene materials tending to corrupt morals.
Mr Hamasaka was facing one count of being in possession of obscene materials which were found in his laptop by police officers who went to search for suspected drugs in his house on July 10, this year.
Principle resident Magistrate Obbister Musukwa acquitted Mr Hamasaka on grounds that the prosecution had failed to prove the case beyond any reasonable doubt.
Mr Musukwa said there were numerous inconsistencies by the State witnesses from the Police and Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) and should not be relied upon because they failed to generate a report.
“It is a fact that the prosecution has proved the owner of a laptop but failed to establish how the pictures found themselves in the said laptop which was in the custody of the Police, I am not satisfied with the prosecution and set him at liberty,” Mr Musukwa said.
The Magistrate said it was not known who put the pictures in the laptop which were obscene in nature and could easily corrupt morals thus the action left much to be desired as the motive was not established.
