The detained former president of Zambia, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, made a brief court appearance in Lusaka yesterday and was then flown to a secret destination by military helicopter. Journalists and lawyers for Dr Kaunda (73) followed as a police convoy drove the opposition leader from the court to Lusaka airport, where he was placed on the helicopter.
Lawyers for Dr Kaunda, who was arrested without charge on Christmas Day under a 28-day detention order, said they had not been told where he was being taken.
Dr Kaunda's family brought a court application for his release but the state prosecutor applied for and was granted an adjournment until Monday. No reasons were given in court for Dr Kaunda's arrest.
He appeared in the dock under tight security, with 19 police officers surrounding him. The court was packed with journalists and members of Dr Kaunda's United National Independence Party (UNIP).
One of Dr Kaunda's lawyers, Mr Sakwiba Sikota, told the court the heavy security presence was "the worst form of psychological intimidation and the manifestation of the government's bad faith".
Dr Kaunda's son, Major Wezi Kaunda, and his wife, Betty, visited him in a Lusaka prison before the court appearance. They said he was on hunger strike in protest at the government's failure to disclose the charges against him.
Major Kaunda said he holds President Frederick Chiluba "personally responsible for the wellbeing of my father while in custody".
Dr Kaunda, who led Zambia to independence in 1964, was defeated at the polls by Mr Chiluba in 1991. He has been barred from running for president again by constitutional amendments.
Police shot Dr Kaunda at a rally earlier this year, but deny his claim that it was an assassination attempt ordered by Mr Chiluba. He returned to Zambia just seven days ago, after having left some time before junior army officers staged a coup attempt on October 28th.
Mr Chiluba imposed a state of emergency after the coup attempt and ordered the indefinite detention of about 90 opposition figures. UNIP denied any connection with the disaffected army officers.
"Quite clearly Dr Kaunda's detention has nothing to do with serving justice," his son said. "This is a case of settling old scores and Mr Chiluba is determined to humiliate Dr Kaunda."
A local human rights group, the Zambia Independent Monitoring Team, condemned the detention of Kaunda. "This is a blow to the democratic process. This is not the time to be flexing muscles and arresting people," it said, adding that the use of scores of armed police to arrest Dr Kaunda at his home constituted political harassment.
UNIP officials said Dr Kaunda's arrest raised an obstacle to reconciliation talks which Mr Chiluba's Movement for Multiparty Democracy party has proposed.