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| National |
| Former DDP sues government |
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by
Gedion Munthali, 15 July 2004
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09:20:05
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Replaced Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Fahad Assani has taken government to court demanding that President Bingu wa Mutharika’s actions be strongly criticised for unconstitutionally removing him from office, and a substantial payment of exemplary damages.
Assani said on Wednesday in an interview Sacranie and Gow, his personal lawyers since 1984 when he left Law School, are taking up the matter in the High Court. He did not indicate when the wheels of litigation will start rolling.
“The matter is not ending here. I have already instructed my lawyers to take it up in the courts,” said Assani, replaced two days ago by Ishmael Wadi almost 16 months before the expiry of his contract on December 31, 2005.
Assani said it would be important that the President be censured for violating the Constitution he swore to defend.
“This is a constitutional and human rights issue. The DPP’s appointment is governed by the Constitution, and rules of employment and natural justice demand that people must be heard before any action against them. The President did not do this,” said Assani.
“Yes, he has a right to get and remove people. I have no quarrel with that. I am not even worried that he replaced me. My quarrel is that he exercised his right on me without following the Constitution,” he added. “We will be setting undesirable precedents if people are allowed to violate the law with impunity.”
Assani said he would be demanding exemplary damages.
“Exemplary damages are more than ordinary damages. In other words, I am demanding that they should be punished so severely so that they should never do this again to other people,” said Assani. “They must pay me substantially.”
He could not quantify the damages.
“You cannot know. The court will determine them depending on the severity of the matter,” he said.
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