Zambian courts declared illegal the 2016 closure of the country’s main independent newspaper, the Post, under the repressive regime of former President Edgar Lungu.
The Post was closed two months before the presidential election on the orders of the tax authorities, which blamed it for several million euros in unpaid taxes. It was then placed in liquidation.
“We find that the actions of the liquidator before and after the purported liquidation of the Post Newspaper Limited are without legal effect,” Supreme Court Justice Mumba Malila said in a ruling based on technical details of the proceedings.
However, it remains unclear whether the publication, which employed 1,500 people, will be reopened.
Edgar Lungu lost the presidential election last August to opponent Hakainde Hichilema. Hichilema has since sought to attract international donors with his ambition to clean up public finances and restore Zambia’s democratic reputation.
The NGO Amnesty International published a report accusing Mr. Lungu of “rule by fear and repression” and of various human rights violations, including the closure of the Post, arrests of opposition leaders and killings by the police.