MDC Alliance principal and former minister of finance Tendai Biti has been denied political asylum by Zambia. Zambia’s Foreign Minister Joe Malanji told the BBC that Biti has been denied asylum because his case did not have merit. He also said that Biti will be sent back to Zimbabwe. Said Malanji
He was attempting to seek asylum in Zambia but the grounds under which he would want to seek asylum are not meritorious. So basically he has not been arrested, all we are doing is keeping him in safe custody and waiting for the Zimbabwean authority to help him get back to Harare. The grounds do not merit asylum. He is not in danger. He is only going to answer charges to legitimate courts of law
Biti was briefly arrested at Chirundu Border Post today before he was rescued by Zimbabwean travellers and Zambian authorities who refused to hand him over to the Zimbabwean agents. In the process, the Zambians threatened to arrest the Zimbabwean police for acting out of their jurisdiction. Biti and other senior opposition officials are wanted by the police and faces charges of inciting political violence and the illegal declaration of election results.