Zambia Has Abolished The Death Penalty, Becoming The 25th Country To Do So
Zambia’s president Hakainde Hichilema announced that the country has abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
![Zambia Has Abolished The Death Penalty, Becoming The 25th Country To Do So](/content/images/size/w1200/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/zambia-death-penalty-abolished.jpg)
Zambia’s president Hakainde Hichilema announced on Friday Dec. 23 that the country has abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
![](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/zambia-president-hakainde-hichilema-death-penalty-abolished.jpg)
According to Amnesty International, this makes Zambia the 25th African country to end capital punishment, which is largely a legacy of colonial legal codes in Africa.
Zambia has had a moratorium on the death penalty since 1997, and Hichilema had pledged in May to end practice.
![](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/zambia-children-death-penalty-abolished.jpg)
The death penalty will now be replaced by life imprisonment.
![](https://almostmag.co/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/hakainde-hichilema-zambia-death-penalty-abolished.jpg)
Hichilema also abolished a law that criminalized defamation of the president, a law that had up until recently been used to limit freedom of speech and expression, according to Amnesty International.