ZAMBIA COURT REJECTS PLEA TO SCRAP DEATH SENTENCES

Zambia's Supreme Court has rejected a petition by two death-row inmates who sought the abolition of capital punishment on the grounds that it went against "Christian values".
"The courts in this country have no powers to abolish the death penalty because they do not have power to legislate," the Supreme Court said.
"We, therefore, hold the opinion that it is the people of Zambia, through their Parliament representatives, who can legislate to abolish it," the judges Ireen Mambilima, Lombe Chibesakunda and Sandson Silomba said in a ruling.
Two prisoners, awaiting execution for their role in a robbery, had argued through their lawyer that the Zambian Constitution described the country as a Christian nation and that the death penalty negated Christian values.
The Roman Catholic Church, highly influential in Zambia, has also been actively campaigning against capital punishment, which it says is inhuman.